Diamantino de Azevedo, who was speaking at the National Assembly in connection with the approval of five legislative authorisations for the President of the Republic to legislate on tax incentives for investments in the oil sector, said that in 2017 the country had only two probes in operation, rising to eight since then.
He stressed that there are prospects of further increasing the number of these well drilling rigs, "were it not for the situation that arose" with the pandemic.
"At that moment, unfortunately, we had to suspend five rigs, but it is due to everything that has already been said here," said the minister.
The holder of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum portfolio recalled that in 2017, the situation in the oil sector was "critical" due to the lack of investment in exploration, noting that since 2011 there were no bids for new blocks.
The Minister stressed that there was also a lack of investment in maintenance, leadership in the sector and conflicts of institutional interest, taking into account that Sonangol, a state-owned oil company, played several roles.
The problems also extended to the maturation of the various fields, which, as a result, had declined naturally, in the order of 15 percent.
"These reasons led the President of the Republic to direct the sector to take immediate measures to improve the investment climate and overcome all the negative aspects mentioned above," he stressed.
In this sense, Diamantino de Azevedo said, "urgent legal measures" were taken, and then the system and model of organization of the sector was changed, as well as strategies at the level of exploration, production, refining, storage, distribution, local content and training of staff.
