MILAN: Italian company Eni said on Wednesday it had made a major oil discovery in Angola that would boost its credentials as one of the most successful foreign oil producers in Africa in recent years.
The find is Angola’s largest offshore discovery in years and may help Africa’s second-biggest crude producer avoid a steep decline in output due to the ageing of its other fields.
Oil accounts for 95 per cent of exports and around 70 per cent of revenues, and the government has recently offered better fiscal terms and more collaboration to international energy firms in an effort to help its mostly impoverished population.
Eni said its new Agogo prospect in Angola’s deep waters contained between 450 million and 650 million barrels of light oil with potential for further upside.
Data from the exploration well pointed to a production capacity of more than 20,000 barrels of oil per day, it said.
“This is a valuable find of light, sweet oil which they will be able to fast-track to meet increasing demand in 2020-2021,” Santander oil analyst Jason Kenney said.
Eni, which has been in Angola since 1980, will be operator at the field with a stake of 36.8 per cent, the same as Angola’s state-owned Sonangol. SSI Fifteen Ltd has 26.3 per cent. — AFP
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