Angola, US to advance cooperation in developing oil and gas, critical minerals and renewable energy

Angolan and US officials have expressed a shared commitment to advance cooperation in the oil and gas, critical minerals and renewable energy sectors. The pledge followed a June 11 meeting in Washington, D.C between US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Angola’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, which the country’s Ambassador to the US, Agostinho Van-Dúnem, also attended.

As noted by the African Energy Chamber (AEC), American companies have been key players in Angola’s oil and gas sector for years. Azevedo and Wright explored ways to expand this cooperation, including new upstream projects, gas monetisation, refining, and critical minerals. They also discussed Angola’s efforts to attract US investment in renewables like solar and green hydrogen as part of the country’s energy diversification strategy, the AEC said in a press release on June 16.

Angola boasts more than 9mn barrels of proven oil reserves and 11 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, or approximately 311.5bn cubic metres (bcm). According to the AEC, the African country has recently announced over $60bn in oil and gas investment prospects through its National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG).

There are opportunities in exploration, development, gas processing, refining, and midstream infrastructure. An upstream licensing round this year will offer 10 new blocks in the Kwanza and Benguela basins. According to ANPG, another 11 blocks are available for direct negotiation, along with five marginal fields.

US companies continue to be a driving force in shaping Angola’s energy landscape. This June, energy giant ExxonMobil and partners secured an extension of the production sharing contract (PSC) for Block 17 in the Lower Congo basin, allowing further deepwater exploration, as reported by NewsBase. ExxonMobil is also redeveloping Block 15 with 18 new wells, adding over 20 years to its life and making two new discoveries. In partnership with France’s TotalEnergies and ANPG, the company is also assessing Blocks 17/06 and 32/21 to identify future drilling opportunities.

Another US supermajor, Chevron, through its subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, is driving Angola’s gas development. The company now supplies 600mn cubic feet (mmcf), or 17mn cubic metres (mcm), of gas per day to the Angola LNG plant. It also recently started production from the Sanha Lean Gas Connection Project to supply both the Soyo power plants and Angola LNG – one of the few working LNG export terminals in Sub-Saharan Africa, which gives US firms a strategic entry point into global LNG markets. Furthermore, Chevron is part of the New Gas Consortium, developing Angola’s first non-associated gas project, expected to come online by 2026.

Angola is also expanding its downstream and midstream sector. Work is progressing on the $920mn Cabinda Refinery, with US companies involved in engineering and procurement. The US-supported Lobito Corridor, linking Angola to Zambia and the DRC, will boost energy transport and industrialisation while offering logistics opportunities to American companies, says the AEC. Additional investments in storage, fuel distribution, and domestic refining capacity aim to cut imports and improve Angola’s energy security.

According to Minister Azevedo, the high-level meeting in Washington reflected the robust and evolving partnership between Angola and the United States. “We are committed to working together to achieve a balanced energy transition – one that leverages Angola’s natural resources, advances technological cooperation and contributes meaningfully to our economic transformation and development goals,” he said.