AfrOil: Equinor optimistic about Angola’s policy to boost oil output from mature fields

Norway-headquartered international energy company Equinor has expressed optimism regarding Angola's efforts to counter declining oil production through policy reforms, Bloomberg reports.

The country's incremental production initiative, which provides incentives for boosting output from existing oil fields, is seen as a significant measure, according to Nina Birgitte Koch, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa. Koch emphasised that this approach was “very positive” despite being quite uncommon in the industry.

“It will unblock resources that otherwise would’ve been stranded, so it’s a very proactive approach,” Koch told Bloomberg in an interview at a conference in Cape Town on October 8.

Angola has been dealing with a steady decrease in oil production caused by insufficient investment in mature fields’ development. One of Africa’s largest crude producers, Angola is aiming to maintain production above 1mn barrels per day. The country exited OPEC in 2023 when the organisation pushed for a reduction of Angola’s production cap by 400,000 bpd.

Equinor’s operations in Angola form the largest part of its African portfolio, with the company producing about 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day out of a total of approximately 175,000 boepd across the continent. The remaining output comes primarily from gas operations in Algeria, where Equinor is working to extend licences with energy major Eni (Italy) and Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach.

Additionally, Equinor is focused on progressing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Tanzania, though Koch acknowledged that the project has been slow-moving.

“There is a need to align across the partnership and with the government – basically to move things forward,” Koch told Bloomberg. “Things take time and we are resilient.”

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