According to the director of the Planning and Statistics Office of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Alexandre Garrett, the total volume exported during the quarter under review represented an increase of 5.42 percent compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 2.01 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
"Despite this increase in the exported volume, the same cannot be said regarding the price behavior in the period, nor regarding the gross value. The price registered a decrease of 5.25 percent when compared to the second quarter and a reduction of 7.93 percent when compared to the same period in 2023", he said.
As for the gross value, Alexandre Garrett stated, the decrease recorded was 0.11 percent compared to the second quarter and 6.08 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
The Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, José Barroso, who opened the preliminary assessment session of crude oil and gas exports in the third quarter of the current year, stressed that the price of Brent was marked by volatile behaviour during the period in question, with a downward trend.
Speaking to the press, José Barroso stated that in July the price reached around 89 dollars, but "already towards the end of the quarter this value fell to around 70 dollars".
José Barroso stressed that, once again, it is confirmed that prices depend on socio-political conditions, currently influenced by situations such as the one in the Middle East.
"In the end, we had an average price of around 80 dollars, down by around five dollars when compared to the previous quarter", he said.
China was the main destination for Angolan crude oil exports, accounting for 44.31 percent, followed by Indonesia (6.74 percent), India (6.60 percent), Brazil (5.67 percent), Spain (4.87 percent) and France (4.71 percent).
Although China continues to lead the list of countries that buy the most Angolan crude oil, there was a decrease compared to the previous quarter, when it accounted for 57.03 percent of exports, a fact that the Secretary of State for Oil and Gas considered normal.
"As new buyers appear interested in buying oil, it is normal for us to diversify our portfolio and in this case some decrease and others increase," he said.
The minister added that this decrease was also influenced by "some decline in China's economic activity", which "explains the lower demand for crude, especially Angolan crude".
Regarding oil production, which in the quarter under review reached just over 33 million barrels in September, the lowest volume since April, José Barroso said that overall this year has seen "relatively higher production than in previous years".
"Especially when compared to 2023, and we have had periods of growth, but unfortunately we have had some periods of decline. Average production is returning to normal with some periods of decline, whether compensated or not, it is normal that in September, due to scheduled activities and others, we have less production", he highlighted.
Regarding gas, exports totaled 1.3 million metric tons, with liquefied natural gas being the most prominent with 81.15 percent, raising around 777.8 million dollars.
In relation to the previous quarter, exports represented, from July to September, an increase of 24.28 percent and its commercialization a growth of 37.73 percent.
Compared to the same period in 2023, there was an increase of 29.82 percent, said José Barroso, emphasizing the rise in the price of gas on the international market and the acquisition, essentially by India, of liquefied natural gas exported by the country, representing around 74.8 percent of this product.
