Three months is all it took for TotalEnergies to move from discovering oil at Acacia-5 on Angola’s Block 17 to putting the discovery into production, chairperson and CEO Patrick Pouyanné told delegates at the recent Angola Oil & Gas conference in Luanda. 

The rapid turnaround, he says, was possible because the company could use available capacity on the existing Pazflor floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, rather than waiting for new production infrastructure to be developed.

The discovery, made in June, started producing in September, adding about 6 000 bbl/d to Block 17 production.

The approach is not new for TotalEnergies in Angola. Last year, the company brought the Begonia and CLOV Phase 3 projects on stream by leveraging available capacity on the Pazflor and CLOV FPSOs. The two subsea tie-backs added 60 000 bbl/d of production. 

TotalEnergies sees further scope to use its existing production infrastructure to accelerate the development of satellite discoveries, with Pouyanné telling delegates that numerous discoveries could still be connected to existing installations. 

“You have my commitment that we will work hard to put all these satellite discoveries into production.”

TotalEnergies has built a substantial production base over several decades in Angola. Its operated Blocks 17 and 32 currently have six FPSOs in production, providing established infrastructure around which additional resources can potentially be developed.

Block 17 is central to that position. TotalEnergies has operated the block since the development of Girassol, and the ability to use existing facilities has allowed the company to shorten the development cycle for new resources.

Acacia-5 is the latest example, and the second exploration success involving TotalEnergies in Angola this year. The company also participated in a discovery on Block 0, in which it holds a 10% interest.

Pouyanné says the discoveries demonstrate the “attractiveness of the country and the group’s confidence in its future”, while TotalEnergies is also expanding its exploration footprint.

The group has signed agreements with Angola’s national oil, gas and biofuels agency, ANPG, to enter Blocks 17/25 and 32/21 in the Lower Congo basin, taking a 40% operated interest in each alongside ExxonMobil and Sonangol E&P.

The blocks are located close to TotalEnergies-operated Blocks 17 and 32, where six FPSOs are producing, allowing for future tie-backs and cost-efficient development of additional resources through existing facilities. 

In February, TotalEnergies signed a heads of agreement with ANPG and ExxonMobil to farm into blocks 40, 41, 42 and 58 in the Benguela basin, taking a 35% interest.

“Exploration is a key pillar of our ambition in Angola, supported by the incentives introduced to encourage investment. Together with our partners, we aim to explore further and unlock new resources, sustaining a strong exploration effort to identify new opportunities across Angola’s offshore basins,” he says. 

TotalEnergies is also investing in new ways of finding the resources that could feed existing and future production infrastructure. Pouyanné announced the launch of a major AI initiative for geoscience, with Angola chosen as its first application area.

“We are convinced that there are more discoveries to be made,” he says.

TotalEnergies currently produces about 450 000 bbl/d in Angola, more than 40% of the country’s production, and Pouyanné says the company is working to maintain that level.

TotalEnergies and its partners will invest $10-billion in Angola over the next five years, with the Cameia development being one of the projects forming part of the investment programme. 

The Cameia and the Golfinho field are being developed through the $6-billion Kaminho project in the Kwanza basin, about 100 km offshore. Production is expected to start in 2028, using TotalEnergies’ seventh FPSO in Angola.