French oil major TotalEnergies will invest $10 billion with partners in Angola over the next five years to bolster production across various projects, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said at an oil conference in Luanda on Wednesday.
Angola, Sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest crude oil producer after Nigeria, has undertaken a major regulatory overhaul to encourage exploration investment as it looks to maintain production levels amid mature offshore fields.
TotalEnergies, the country's largest oil operator, produces around 450,000 barrels per day in Angola and is working to maintain that level, Pouyanne said, as the Southern African country strives to maintain output of around 1 million bpd.
"Investments are necessary to achieve these production levels," he told delegates.
TotalEnergies is developing the $6 billion Kaminho project, about 100 km (62 miles) off Angola's coast, after taking a final investment decision in 2024.
Linked to the company's seventh Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel in the country, the project in the Kwanza Basin is expected to start production in 2028.
Pouyanne said on Wednesday the company had signed two new exploration licences for offshore Block 17 and Block 32 in partnership with Exxon Mobil.
It would also launch an artificial intelligence geoscience initiative with major companies to support exploration of Angola's offshore oil blocks.
"We will apply it first to the Angolan Basin because we are convinced that there are more discoveries to be made, such as those in Block 17 and Block 0," he said.
(Reuters)