UK oil & gas firm obtains approval to buy stakes in Angolan offshore blocks

UK-headquartered Afentra, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Afentra (Angola) Ltd., has received approval from the Government of Angola for the acquisition of interests in two blocks offshore Angola from state-owned oil and gas company Sonangol.

Afentra announced it had received the approval for the acquisition of a 14% non-operating interest in Block 3/05 and a 40% non-operating interest in Block 23, pursuant to a sale and purchase agreement between Sonangol and Afentra (Angola) Ltd from April 20, 2022, as amended and restated on July 18, 2023.

The company is now working with Sonangol to finalize the formal completion of the acquisition which is anticipated to occur by the end of this year.

According to Afentra, the government approval process for the purchase of further non-operated interests in Block 3/05 (12%) and Block 3/05A (16%) from Azule Energy Angola Production remains ongoing and the approval process and subsequent formal completion is anticipated in Q4 2023.

The completion of both acquisitions, combined with current interests, will result in Afentra having a 30% equity interest in Block 3/05 and a 21.33% in Block 3/05A providing it with net working interest production of around 6,000 bopd.

Furthermore, the redistribution of the interests of China Sonangol International in Block 3/05A has been formally approved by the Government of Angola. On completion of the redistribution, it will result in Afentra’s current interest in Block 3/05A increasing from 4% to 5.33%; this interest will increase to 21.33% upon the completion of the Azule acquisition.

“The receipt of the Government of Angola approval of the Sonangol Acquisition is a key step in the acquisition process and we continue to look forward to completing both the Sonangol and Azule acquisitions before year end,” said Afentra’s CEO Paul McDade.

“The combination of these interests with our current interests in Block 3/05 and 3/05A will provide Afentra with a material equity position in this world class production asset. We continue to work with the operator Sonangol and our joint venture partners to ensure that we maximise the production, reserves and value of this quality long life asset for the benefit of all stakeholders whilst also reducing the emissions profile.”

Block 3/05, located in the Lower Congo Basin, consists of eight mature producing fields discovered by Elf Petroleum – now part of TotalEnergies – in the early 1980s. This block has a diverse portfolio of over 100 wells.

Currently, it produces from around 40 production wells with nine active water injectors. The facilities include 17 wellhead and support platforms and four processing platforms, with oil exported via the FSO Palanca.