Madrid, Spain, 3 July – The Angolan oil and gas industry is to receive investments of US$100 billion over the next five to seven years, the chairman of state oil company Sonangol, Manuel Vicente said in Madrid Wednesday.

In a speech in Madrid at the 19th World Oil Congress, Vicente said that investment in production and exploration were aimed at “ensuring production levels for the next five years (until 2014),” which currently stand at approximately 2 million barrels per day, above that of the Africa’s usual biggest producer, Nigeria.

Investment in exploration, he added, included drilling 100 new oil wells per year, over the next ten years.

The chairman of Sonangol noted that Angola’s efforts made it possible to “participate in the stabilisation of oil prices,” currently at record levels on the international market.

Angola’s gas reserves are estimated at around 12.5 billion barrels, according to Sonangol’s estimates.

In his turn, Desidério Costa, Angola’s oil minister, said in Madrid that Angolan production was expected to rise from the current 1.9 million barrels per day to 2 million barrels per day, “by the end of the year,” after Sonangol director, Syanga Abílio told Angolan news agency Angop Monday that this target would be reached by August.

Angolan oil production remained at the highest level in Africa in May for the second consecutive month, exceeding that of Nigeria, which ahs been affected by strikes and raids on oil facilities, according to information from OPEC. (macauhub)