Ana Miala, executive administrator of the National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), who was speaking to journalists in Luanda, said that there are, distributed across the various oil concessions, 760 wells closed due to mechanical breakdowns, technical problems or depletion of reserves, of which only 70 are 'onshore'.
Some of them will be definitively abandoned because their reserves have been exhausted, while others will be reopened when there is an opportunity, added the ANPG manager on the sidelines of a meeting with journalists where an overview of the national concessionaire's activities was made and perspectives for the coming years were highlighted.
Ana Miala indicated that "there is a lot of work to be done" to improve the attraction of investment to the national oil sector, including an incremental production project that will allow operators to increase investments to maximize production.
"The incremental production project will give operators this opportunity to invest in the wells again", she said, explaining that it also involves changes to the sharing conditions between the State and the investor group.
Asked about how the abandonment funds, intended for the dismantling of wells that have reached the end of their useful life, are being used, she stressed that there has not yet been any definitive abandonment of wells, which means that these funds are not yet being used.
"But there are plans to start definitively abandoning some wells in some concessions", said Ana Miala, clarifying that "the abandonment funds can only be used when the concession has a definitive abandonment plan approved by the State.
"A final abandonment plan is only submitted when the concession is to close", she stated, admitting that "there is a need to reduce the number of temporarily closed wells and close them definitively".
Abandonment funds are financial resources deposited by operators on behalf of groups contracting oil blocks in escrow accounts of the national oil and gas concessionaire, to be used in the future for the dismantling of oil fields.
The president of ANPG, Paulo Jerónimo, indicated that the fund currently has around 5.5 billion dollars deposited in escrow accounts and around 800 million dollars in securities.
The ANPG 2023-2027 strategic plan foresees, among other actions, the stabilization of oil production above one million barrels of oil/day, a regulatory framework to accelerate activities, incentives for incremental production with a reduction in the tax burden and more balanced sharing, bidding for pre-salt blocks, regulations favorable to investment in biofuels, etc.
Since 2019, the national concessionaire has awarded 32 oil concessions, of which 16 through bidding and 16 through direct award.
