Angola eyes upstream revamp

West African producer’s national oil agency considers licensing overhaul for faster rounds

Angola is considering a revamp of its oil exploration licensing process to allow promising blocks to be made available faster to investors, Alcides Andrade, executive board member at Angola’s National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), said in an interview with Petroleum Economist. The change under consideration is inspired by the licensing process used by Brazil, Andrade said. Angolan blocks identified as promising may in future be made available straight away under a “permanent offer”, system rather than waiting for the next scheduled round, he said. Getting interest from a single candidate would trigger either an immediate public round or direct negotiations with the company.