The re-birth of Angolan oil sector...

Italian oil giant discovers hope for Angolan oil sector

The Italian oil company ENI has announced a major discovery as part of it’s Agogo oil exploration in Angola. It is thought that the new findings show a potential 450 million to 650 million barrels of light oil that could be exploited and used for energy production. Italy’s largest producers of oil said this could result in a production capacity of 20,000 barrels a day.

The discovery is a very optimistic one for the country of Angola, who have suffered badly since it’s oil crash in 2014. Oil prices fell from above $100 per centilitre in 2013, to $32.88 by the beginning of 2016. This led to a 30% increase in public debt for Africa’s seventh largest country, and a 30% reduction in the value of the national currency, the Kwanza.

However last year the government introduced numerous strategies to help boost oil production, and this fresh discovery could mean that Angola has increased potential to sell oil and bring money into the economy.

Eni is vital part of Angola’s oil sector, producing over 150,000 barrels of oil a day thus bringing in money for the country. In Africa they partner with Angolan company Sonangol to venture into reserves, and the partnership is to begin studies in order to fast-track the development and exploration of this new uncovering. This fast-tracking will be likely to increase employment along the West coast of Angola, allowing people to work and increase the financial status of the nation.

Eni has been in partnership with the West African country since 1980, just five years after Angola became independent from Portugal. The company operates within offshore and deep-water oil exploration and production.

Angola’s state-owned Sonangol will receive 36.8% of the stake made from the ventures of the Agogo Project. The country is still in the top fifteen largest oil producers in the world, despite the oil crash. The government will hope that ventures like this, as well as further discoveries found by foreign oil companies will help them rise above close African competitors Nigeria.

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