Luanda, Aug. 31, 2026 (Lusa) - Angola's minister for mineral resources, oil and gas said on Monday that the nation has now overcome the challenge of stabilising production, and called on operators to exceed the target of one million barrels of oil per day.
Diamantino Azevedo met today in Luanda with the managing director of ExxonMobil Angola, Brian Unietis, at a ceremony marking the 32nd anniversary of the start of operations in Block 15, located some 145 kilometres off Angola's northern coast, where production has reached around 2.7 trillion barrels of oil.
The Angolan minister emphasised that the country had gone many years without holding tenders for new blocks, but that 72 blocks had been put out to tender over the last nine years, so «this has to yield results».
«That is the challenge now; I ask for your input – what do we need to do to effectively increase production, because I believe the potential is there,» he said.
Speaking to the press, the minister stressed that Angola is satisfied with the performance of companies in the oil sector, in terms of production and social projects, as well as the Angolanisation [replacing ex-patriate workers with nationals] of the sector.
«But I am never satisfied with what has been achieved. When we reach a goal, we must set new ones. What I have asked the companies is to invest more, to seek to negotiate with the petroleum agency for further blocks, and to pay close attention to the issue of Angolanisation,» he stressed.
The Minister highlighted that executive decrees on new offshore and onshore blocks will soon be published, «which will be made available for partners to examine closely».
«We have several onshore blocks, because we envisage the possibility of oil reserves there (…), and there is a great deal of work to be done,» he noted.
Regarding Block 15, Diamantino Azevedo expressed his satisfaction, «because it is a block that has already achieved 95% Angolanisation».
«I also referred to the need to see more Angolan service providers getting involved, but this is a challenge not only for the operating companies, but also for Angolan companies themselves to be more proactive, to seek greater involvement in this part of the production activity; and I also asked everyone, collectively, to reflect on raising the standard of our work in terms of social projects,» he said.
Block 15 in deep waters – operated by ExxonMobil, with Azule Energy, Equinor and Sonangol as partners – has had its operating licence extended until 2037, with an investment of $3 billion (€2.5 billion).
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