Africa Oil & Gas: Angolan oil production in decline

The irregularities in new block bids and excess bureaucracy are behind the decline in oil production in Angola, the minister of Mining Resources and Oil said on Wednesday in Luanda.

Diamantino de Azevedo, who presented the final results of the interministerial working group created by Presidential Order 307/17 of 21 December to update the readjustment model for the oil sector, said that production for this year (2018) is estimated at 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, compared to the 1.9 million barrels recorded in 2008.

The lack of incentive policies to allow for development of marginal fields was also determining for the decline of oil production, which should have been proposed by the national concessionaire, and did not happen in a timely manner.

The minister also said that the oil and gas industry in Angola is currently undergoing a significant phase of transformation.

Oil production, he continued, is expected to begin to decline by 10 to 15% annually, which will reduce the current 1.5 million barrels per day to 1 million barrels per day by 2023 if nothing is done to prevent it.

Taking into account this finding, a working group has been created, coordinated by the Minister of Mining Resources and Oil, to respond to the problems in the sector. One of the solutions found was the creation of the National Oil and Gas Agency, which will act as the national hydrocarbon concessionaire. (source: macauhub)