Deepwater oil and gas development has dominated Angola’s upstream energy sector for many years, yielding significant hydrocarbon resources for the country. One of the leading companies responsible for overseeing Angola’s hydrocarbon production is Sonangol E&P, Angola’s national oil company, which works with energy giants from across the world to enhance the country’s energy potential on both a domestic and international scale. Working with the likes of TotalEnergies, Chevron and Azule Energy, Sonangol E&P delivers vital exploration, production, processing, transportation and marketing operations for Angola’s hydrocarbon sector, and in the process cementing the country’s role as a leading integrated company in the African energy market.
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Sonangol E&P, wholly owned by the Government of Angola, is an integrated oil and gas company that develops Angola’s energy sector across its subsidiaries which spanning the entire hydrocarbon value chain. Across its operations, Sonangol E&P aims to deliver the sustainable development of oil and gas for energy generation, whilst ensuring greater returns for its shareholders, partners and local communities across Angola. Thus, the central objective of Sonangol E&P is to increase its share of operated crude oil and natural gas production to help reduce the country’s dependence on imported refined products, develop petrochemical hubs, produce electricity from new renewable resources, and, in the process, deliver the vital logistics infrastructures needed to support the country’s overall energy development. However, Sonangol E&P aims to help achieve this significant energy development for Angola, whilst delivering its operations with sustainability in mind. Thus, across Sonangol E&P’s operations, there is a keen focus on acting in a sustainable manner to deliver Angola as a significant oil and gas generator for Africa.
Formed in 1976, a year after Angola’s independence, Sonangol E&P has spent the last 50 years prioritising hydrocarbon resource management, environmental preservation, and industrial safety across the energy production sector. A key part of its ability to achieve this is through the development of key partnerships across the energy sector that can work together to develop Angola’s energy future. Some of its key partnerships are across its exploration and production segment, where Sonangol E&P’s subsidiaries are focused on exploring, developing and producing hydrocarbons.
One of the most notable projects under Sonangol E&P is the Kaminho Deepwater Project, which was the first large deepwater development within the Kwanza Basin. The project is located within Block 20/11, located 100km off the coast of Angola at depths of 17,000 metres. The Kaminho Deepwater Project is held in partnership between TotalEnergies (40%), Petronas (40%) and Sonangol E&P (20%). The project spans the development of the Cameia and Golfinho fields across two phases. This development will include subsea, umbilicals, risers and flowlines, as well as the conversion of a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) into a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit. The overall project aims to deliver a plateau of 17,000 barrels of oil per day, whilst minimising greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating routine flaring. Additionally, the FPSO will be entirely electric, and all associated gas will be injected into the reservoirs. In 2024, the partners reached a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the development of the Cameia and Golfinho fields, all made possible thanks to the partnership’s close collaborations with the concessionaire Agencia Nacional de Petroleo e Gas (ANPG).
Commenting on the FID, Sebastião Gaspar Martins, Chairman and CEO of Sonangol, outlined that “The final investment decision of Kaminho project materialises the commitment and efforts made by the Angolan government, through its Ministry and National Concessionaire, and TotalEnergies, Sonangol and Petronas as partners. They allowed the right conditions to contribute to increasing national production of oil and natural gas, and with that the revenues for the country”. Martins’ comments highlight just how vital this project will be for supporting Angola’s overall energy development and enhancing the project partners’ role in the Angolan energy sector. The development is expected to begin production in 2028, where it will provide a vital yet sustainably focused energy development for the country.
Sonangol E&P’s development has only continued to expand, and in 2025, the company was part of multiple projects set on enhancing Angola’s energy sector. In January, Sonangol E&P outlines that Red Sky Energy had signed a risk service contract for offshore Block 6/24 for exploration in Angola with ANPG, ACREP Exploração Petrolífera (ACREP) and Sonangol E&P. The contract outlines the exploration and development of offshore Block 6/24 located within the Kwanza Basin. The project spans an area covered by 1,531km2 of 2D seismic and 1,465km2 of 3D seismic data, where Red Sky has identified significant potential for oil. Red Sky Energy holds 35% participating interest in the development, along with Sonangol E&P, which is the operator with 50% operated interest, and ACREP, which holds the remaining 15%. However, ANPG will retain ownership of all hydrocarbons produced.
Then, in August 2025, Sonangol E&P announced that production had begun at its Agogo Integrated West Hub (Agogo IWH) development project. The project outlines a full field development covering the Agogo and Ndungo fields, which have a combined reserve of 450 million barrels of oil, with a peak production rate of roughly 180 thousand barrels of oil per day. The project is operated by Azule Energy (36.84%) and is in partnerships with Sonangol E&P (36.84%) and Sinopec International (26.32%) and is located within the 15/06 Block offshore Angola, in the lower Congo Basin. Production was reached in August 2025, significantly ahead of schedule at just 29 months following the FID. This fast timeline puts the project development ahead of industry average; however, every development was carried out with a constant focus on safety.
Furthermore, Sonangol E&P announced in November the inauguration of one of its newest developments: the New Gas Consortium (NGC) gas treatment plant in Angola. The NGC will be Angola’s first non-associated gas development located in Soyo, with a processing capacity of approximately 400 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) and 20,000 barrels of condensate per day. This gas will be sourced from the Quiluma and Maboqueiro fields, which will then be treated and supplied to the Angola LNG plant for export and domestic consumption. NCG is operated by Azule Energy (37.4%), in partnerships with Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (31%), Sonangol E&P (19.85%) and TotalEnergies (11.8%), whilst ANPG is the national concessionaire. In November, the partnership announced the gas treatment plant had entered into the commissioning phase with gas, and so has reached operation just 24 months after groundbreaking in 2023. The project is a vital step for Angola’s overall energy development and diversification, representing the responsible development of resources and enabled the growth of other key sectors such as fertiliser production for agriculture. Thus, this new development looks set to play a big role in shaping the future of Sonangol E&P’s energy project development for the future.
Overall, Sonangol E&P is a vital energy company for Angola, that works with leading companies within the global energy market, to deliver projects that enhance the rich hydrocarbon resources of Angola and develop them into projects that bring both economic and social development across the country. With so many projects currently underway, Sonangol E&P are leading the way across Angola’s energy development to reduce the country’s need for imported refined products, and establish a diverse, yet sustainably focused energy resource development hub in Angola that can serve the country for many years to come.
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