Africa Oil & Gas: Angola revokes concession on oil block

The government of Angola has revoked the concession on an oil exploration block so far operated by Brazil’s Petrobras, which had a 40 percent stake in the company responsible for the production-sharing contract, according to a government order.

Signed by the Angolan Oil minister, Botelho de Vasconcelos, the concession was on block 6/06, whose initial research phase ended on 30 November, 2014.

The government order said that state oil company Sonangol “plans to retake this block” and therefore the concession on the block is now “extinct” and the area concerned is once again part of the assets of that public company.

This block made the news last December, when the Oil Ministry decided to exclude Falcon Oil, which had a 10 percent stake, from the contractor group for breach of economic and financial obligations.

The government order published said, “Falcon Oil demonstrated it did not have the requirements prescribed by law, lacking the fulfilment of economic and financial obligations relating to the payment of the share of the costs incurred by the contractor group in oil block operations.” (macauhub/AO)