• Shell and Equinor signed a deal with Angola’s ANPG for 17 offshore blocks, marking Shell’s return after 20 years.
• The $1 billion project aims to boost output by up to 200,000 b/d by 2028 and strengthen local content and investment.
• Equinor consolidates its Angolan base as Shell expands its African footprint, reflecting renewed confidence in the oil sector.

Anglo-Dutch major Shell and Norwegian state-backed Equinor have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Angola’s National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) covering 17 offshore blocks. The agreement marks Shell’s return as an operator in Angola after a 20-year absence, as Luanda seeks to revive a declining oil output.

Signed on 3 October 2025 in Luanda, the MoU sets the framework for 17 risk-service contracts. It covers blocks 19, 34, and 35 in the deep-water Kwanza Basin, as well as 14 ultra-deep-water blocks spread across the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins.

The signing ceremony, chaired by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, brought together senior industry representatives. The signatories included Paulino Jerónimo, president of ANPG; Eugene Okpere, executive vice-president of Shell; Ane Aubert, managing director of Equinor; and Ricardo Van-Deste and Walter Nascimento, for Sonangol E&P.

According to ANPG, the initiative aims to attract large-scale investment, create skilled employment, strengthen local content, and diversify the economy. “We are proud to work alongside Shell, Equinor, and Sonangol to unlock the potential of these blocks and deliver lasting value for Angola,” said Mr Jerónimo.

Under the agreement, Shell will act as operator, leading exploration activities, while Equinor and Sonangol E&P will provide technical and financial support. The consortium holds exclusive negotiation rights for the concessions—an essential milestone in Angola’s post-2017 petroleum reforms, which introduced tax incentives and greater openness to foreign partners.

Industry sources cited by several media outlets estimate about US$1 billion in planned spending on seismic surveys and initial exploratory drilling. These operations could help stabilise Angola’s national output—currently around 1.1 million barrels per day—and add 100,000–200,000 b/d by 2028 if discoveries prove commercial.

Consolidating Africa Positions

For Shell, the move marks a strategic return to Angola after two decades of partial withdrawal. The company aims to reassert its African presence at a time when its continental production fell to 71,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first nine months of 2025, its lowest since 2020, according to its 30 October report. Shell is refocusing on high-value, lower-emission projects while expanding its gas portfolio—notably through a US$2 billion investment with Sunlink Energies in Nigeria to produce 350 million cubic feet of gas per day for the Nigeria LNG plant.

Equinor, meanwhile, is consolidating its role as a key pillar of Angola’s oil industry, its largest operational hub outside Norway. Active in the country since the 1990s, it already holds interests in Block 17, the core of its local production, alongside TotalEnergies and Azule Energy. In 2025, Equinor participated in the start-up of the Begonia field and the Phase 3 expansion of the CLOV project, while expanding its portfolio with Blocks 46 and 47.

The new partnership with Shell and Sonangol underscores Angola’s strategic value for Equinor. As sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest oil producer, after Nigeria, the country is striving to reverse production decline through renewed exploration. For European partners, the agreement offers an opportunity to co-invest in a more stable, better-governed sector following the 2017 reforms.

Idriss Linge