Angola Targets 1.2 Million Bpd Oil Output as New Projects and Exploration Advance
Angola is targeting a turnaround in oil production as the government steps up efforts to revive mature fields, accelerate new projects and expand exploration across the country’s offshore basins.
Angola’s crude output has fallen from around 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2008 to approximately 1.03 million bpd in 2026, largely due to declining mature fields, ageing infrastructure and slower investment.
The country’s 2025–2050 Hydrocarbon Strategy aims to stabilise production above 1 million bpd through 2030 before increasing output to 1.2 million bpd between 2031 and 2040.
In the near term, Angola is relying on investment in existing fields to slow production declines.
The 2024 Incremental Production Decree supports activities including well re-entry, new drilling and measures to improve recovery rates.
Companies are already pursuing this approach. TotalEnergies is working to unlock additional production from Block 32, while Sonangol is extending the productive life of Blocks 3/05 and 3/05A through targeted drilling and enhanced recovery programmes.
The government is also promoting infrastructure-sharing and tieback developments to bring new discoveries into production faster and reduce development costs.
A key example is the Greater PAJ development, which reached final investment decision in June 2026.
The project combines resources from Block 31 and Block 31/21 and is designed to develop around 252 million barrels of reserves using shared infrastructure. First oil is targeted for 2029.
However, Angola’s longer-term production outlook will depend increasingly on exploration.
Under its hydrocarbon strategy, the country aims to identify approximately 12.7 billion barrels of oil initially in place and 5 trillion cubic feet of gas by 2030.
Exploration efforts are expected to expand across the Kwanza, Namibe and Benguela basins, alongside deeper Cretaceous and pre-salt opportunities in the Lower Congo Basin.
International investment is already moving into these frontier areas. TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil secured four blocks in the Namibe and Benguela basins in 2026, while Woodside Energy is studying Blocks 25, 26 and 43, and Shell has partnered with Sonangol on Block 33.
The strategy therefore places Angola’s immediate production defence on mature-field recovery and faster project execution, while exploration is expected to determine whether the country can return to sustained production growth from 2032 onwards.
With crude output currently stabilised at around 1.1 million bpd, Angola’s next challenge will be converting its upstream reforms, new developments and frontier exploration into lasting production growth.
