The National Agency of Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) has released a video highlighting the technical profile of the onshore blocks currently on offer to investors in Angola's latest oil and gas licencing round, which includes nine highly-prospective onshore blocks.
This initiative follows technical presentations held in Luanda on April 12 and will be accompanied by a webinar through which international investors will be able to directly contact the agency with their questions and concerns.
Six licences in the onshore Kwanza Basin (KON 5, 6, 8, 9, 17, and 20) and three licences in the onshore Lower Congo Basin are available in the 2020/2021 licencing round, which begins on April 30 and ends on June 9. (CON 1, 5 and 6).
Due to the considerable upside potential that characterises Angola's onshore acreage – early exploration activities that have yielded approximately 13 commercial-sized oil discoveries – the bid round has already piqued international interest. Onshore plays are a geological extension of Angola's more developed offshore petroleum systems, which have given the country the continent's fourth-largest proven oil reserves.
Angola's onshore petroleum systems are a geological extension of the country's more mature offshore petroleum systems, which have given it the continent's fourth-largest proven oil reserves. Furthermore, the shallow-water shelf acts as a geological mirror to Brazil's prolific Santos and Campos Basins, and is home to many early discoveries in Blocks 20, 21, and 23 – including the Orca region, which is estimated to be the Kwanza Basin's largest pre-salt discovery to date.
In addition to broadening its geological understanding of onshore and unconventional plays through the current licencing round, the ANPG hopes to diversify the Angolan exploration landscape by bringing in new players who have never worked in the country before. To encourage new and non-traditional explorers to participate, the ANPG will allow investors to preview available data packages before buying them, lowering the risk of entry and increasing transparency.
Key geological information, comprehensive research reports on the stratigraphy, structural aspect, and perspectivity of each region, an accessibility study, georeferenced information, and applicable legal and judicial information are all available in data packages for both onshore basins. For acreage in the Kwanza Basin, vintage seismic data is also available.