TotalEnergies Boosts Angola Production with New Drilling, Begonia and CLOV Phase 3 Projects
TotalEnergies Angola has reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining and expanding oil production in the country, with plans to drill one exploration well per year.
The announcement was made by Martin Deffontaines, Country Manager at TotalEnergies Angola, during an onstage interview at the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2025 Conference and Exhibition.
As one of Angola’s largest oil producers, TotalEnergies faces natural declines in its mature fields. To counter this, the company is investing heavily in well integrity programs while pursuing new exploration campaigns to unlock fresh reserves.
“Our main challenge is to maintain and increase production. Some of our installations, such as Girassol and Dalia, are reaching their 20–25-year design life, followed by PAZFLOR and CLOV.
Ensuring the integrity of these wells is a top priority. At the same time, exploration is key to bringing new projects online and offsetting declines.
Drilling one exploration well per year will help us achieve this,” Deffontaines explained.
TotalEnergies is strengthening its position in Angola through large-scale offshore developments. In 2025, the company brought an additional 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the market with the Begonia and CLOV Phase 3 projects, both critical to sustaining national production.
Begonia – the first inter-block development in Angola – highlights the importance of synergies across offshore assets, setting a precedent for future cross-block collaboration.
CLOV Phase 3, part of the Block 17 legacy asset, added four subsea wells tied back to the CLOV FPSO vessel. The project not only increased production capacity but also extended the life of the Dalia FPSO to 2045 following a license extension.
“We just celebrated two projects starting in 2025. The first is Begonia, where I was impressed by the level of commitment from all stakeholders.
Another example is Kaminho – a $6 billion project that became commercial thanks to strong partnerships,” Deffontaines said.
Kaminho: Angola’s Next Big Offshore Development
Looking ahead, the Kaminho project is central to TotalEnergies’ growth strategy. Having reached a final investment decision in 2024, Kaminho is set to become the first large deepwater development in Angola’s offshore Kwanza Basin, with first oil expected in 2028.
The project underscores Angola’s ability to attract large-scale investments, even in a competitive global energy market.
Building Local Capacity Through Youth and Women Empowerment
Beyond oil and gas, TotalEnergies is actively supporting local content development through initiatives that focus on empowering youth and women. Deffontaines emphasized the importance of inclusivity in the face of the global energy transition:
“We need young people to be with us as actors of the transition – not against oil and gas,” he stated.
The company currently supports:
30 young Angolans through their first professional experiences at TotalEnergies.
A women’s empowerment program, launched in 2024, which has already offered 24 young women roles in technical fields such as drilling and field operations. Notably, the program produced TotalEnergies’ first female field manager on PAZFLOR.
These efforts reflect TotalEnergies’ broader strategy to not only sustain Angola’s oil output but also develop the country’s human capital, ensuring the local workforce is equipped to play a leading role in the evolving energy landscape.
