Angola’s National Agency of Petroleum, Gas, and Biofuels (ANPG) hosted an invitation-only ceremony in Luanda on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, to open the proposals received for the latest bid round for offshore blocks in the Lower Congo and Kwanza offshore basins. H.E. Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, and José Barroso, Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, were in attendance.

At the launch, Eni Angola made a bid for Block 31/21 in which the Italian major would serve as operator with a 50% share in a consortium with Equinor of Norway. The proposal includes a $5 million bonus that will be paid out in one lump sum 30 days after the block’s first output.

TotalEnergies proposed a plan for Block 16/21 that would give the French firm a 100% stake and pay a bonus based on the accumulated volume of production in the range of 0.10 cents per barrel pending accumulated production of less than 200 million barrels, with the potential to reach 0.30 cents if production is equal to or greater than 400 million barrels.

During his opening speech at the launch, the Angolan Minister said: “The resumption of bids in Angola, after its long shutdown, is something that in time will de facto contribute to the dynamization of the industry and the economy, since without investment there will be neither new discoveries nor increased production. The fact that we are gathered here to witness the public opening of bids for the third bid round is already a victory for this whole team that has been committed to implementing the national strategy outlined for the sector.”

“We will continue to work with the dynamics of the global extractive industry so that we can obtain concrete results from the natural resource potential that we have in this important sector of our economy, exploring more and producing more.”

ANPG President, Paulino Jerónimo, stated that, “[The fact that] the basins under bidding have already been studied and that investors have been able to attest that our business environment is attractive – and that investors recognize it – [shows that] that ANPG is a guarantor of dialogue and continuous work with operators and partners who trust in Angola.”