Angola’s oil output in 2018 fell by almost 56 million barrels or 9.40% to 539.813 million barrels, compared to the figures recorded a year earlier, according to Sonangol’s Management Report and Consolidated Accounts for 2018.

The report said that the decline in production was due to the maturity of the reserves, the entry of new low-performance development projects and the degradation of production facilities due to a lack of maintenance work in the wells and not drilling new wells due to a lack of drilling units in the blocks.

Block 17 contributed most to total production, followed by Blocks 0, 15, 15/06 and 31, accounting for 84.5% of the total crude oil production in Angola.

Foreign oil companies in Angola accounted for 97.6% of total oil production in 2018, led by Total E&P Angola, with 38.3% of total production, followed by Chevron with 21.2%, Esso with 15.9%, BP with 13%, ENI with 9.2% and Pluspetrol with 0.1%.

The remaining 2.4% corresponds to the production of Angolan operators Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção and Somoil, with 2% and 0.4%, respectively.

Oil production in 2018 took place in shallow water (18.18% of the total), deep water (71.16%), ultra-deepwater (9.88%) and onshore (0.78%). (Macauhub)