During an official visit to France by João Lourenço, the President of the Republic of Angola, Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total, and Carlos Saturnino, chairman of the board of directors of Sonangol, signed several agreements covering the group’s upstream and downstream activities in Angola.
These included a risk service agreement for the deepwater Block 48 exploration licence, which Total will operate. Total and Sonangol are 50/50 partners in exploring Block 48 in Angola’s ultra-deep offshore. The first, two-year phase of the programme includes drilling a well.
A framework agreement for the future joint venture between Total and Sonangol to jointly develop a network of service stations in Angola was firmed up, including petroleum product logistics and supply.
A memorandum of understanding to fund 50 new scholarships for young Angolans to study at French universities by end-2019 was also established.
“As today’s agreements and the launch of the Zinia 2 development demonstrate, Total, as Angola’s main oil and gas producer, continues to help develop the country’s oil and gas resources. The group appreciates the joint efforts of the Angolan authorities, Sonangol and the industry to enhance taxation framework and regulations. These changes are vital to revive investment in this key sector of the Angolan economy and develop new projects, including those planned in Block 17,” said Patrick Pouyanné. “First oil from Kaombo in summer 2018 will be the next milestone in the history of Total in Angola.”
Present in Angola since 1953, Total is the country’s leading oil operator. Production averaged 229,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2017, from Blocks 17, 14 and 0 and Angola LNG.
