Exxon Mobil Makes First Oil Discovery in Angola After 20 Years

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Exxon Mobil has announced that it has, together with its partners, discovered hydrocarbons in Block 15 off Angola in the Bavuca South, marking the first commercial oil find by the company in the country since 2003.

The last big fossil fuel discovery on the continent dates back to 2010, oilprice.com reported.

Over the past five years, the United States’ largest independent oil and gas company, has mostly focused its exploratory activities in South America.

In contrast, Exxon’s exploits in Africa have been few and far between, with its last discovery on the continent coming nearly two decades ago. This was the block’s 18th discovery, but the first since 2003.

According to Exxon, the Valaris DS-9 drillship drilled the Bavuca South-1 well 365 km northwest from the coast at Luanda in 1,100 m (3,608 ft) of water, encountering 30m (98 ft) of good-quality, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone.

Exxon owns 36 per cent interest in the block, with BP Exploration Angola (24 per cent), Eni Angola Exploration (18 per cent), Equinor Angola Block 15 (12 per cent) and Sonangol P&P (10 per cent) being its partners.

The last big fossil fuel discovery on the continent dates back to 2010 after Texas-based Anadarko Corp. (now a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp.) and Italian energy giant Eni, discovered approximately 180 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, equivalent to 29 billion barrels of oil, in Mozambique’s supergiant offshore basin of Rovuma, immediately catapulting the South African nation to a potential global LNG superpower.