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Bloomberg
Angola’s state-run oil and gas company is ramping up efforts to lure foreign investors and halt a decline in crude output.
Once Africa’s biggest oil producer, output has tumbled in recent years due to under-investment in new projects and natural declines at aging fields. If it fails to halt this decline it will put severe strain on an economy heavily reliant on revenue from oil exports, already dealing with a weakening kwanza and about to receive a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Angola emerged from a civil war in 2002 to become one the world’s fastest-growing economies, mostly because of oil.
The days of sky-high growth in sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest economy came to end after the 2014 oil-price crash.
President Joao Lourenco, who came to power last year, is attempting to revive the economy by tackling corruption, attracting foreign investment and selling assets.
State-run oil producer Sonangol is seeking investment through talks ahead of a license round next year. The company is targeting exploration in as many as 10 offshore blocks in 2019 — the first tender for exploration rights since 2011.
The government also transferred the role of concessionaire from Sonangol to a new agency earlier this year and offered tax breaks to companies developing marginal fields.
Angola was pumping around 1.49 million barrels a day last month, down from around 1.87 million barrels a day in September 2014.