One of Africa’s leading deepwater oil and gas drilling companies Sonadrill has signed two drilling contracts to explore offshore Angola using its West Gemini and Sonangol Libongos vessels in what seems to be another major upstream effort to boost the output.
In a news release from the company and confirmed by Energy in Africa on Monday, the West Gemini vessel was contracted by Sonangol E&P whilst the Sonangol Libongos vessel was contracted by Azule Energy.
The Germini drilling contract will span 284 days beginning in late 2025 or early-2026.
Similarly, the Libongos contract will cover a duration of 525 days. This drilling is expected to kick off in Q3 2025 and comes with priced options beyond this initial term.
Sonadrill is a 50:50 joint venture company of offshore drilling contractor Seadrill and Angola’s national oil company Sonangol.
New York-listed Seadrill currently charters three drillships bareboat to Sonadrill. This includes West Gemini, Sonangol Libongos and Sonangol Quenguela.
According to information available on its website, Seadrill earns a commission for providing management, operational and technical support to Sonadrill.
Uptick in upstream not reflecting in barrels
Despite recent increase in upstream oil activities in Angola, the country’s output hasn’t kept up with the government’s expectations.
When the country exited OPEC in December 2023, the government had set an ambitious target of maintaining production above the one-million mark.
But data released by the National Agency for Petroleum and Gas (ANPG) last month revealed said production dropped to an average of 998,757 barrels per day in July.
This is the lowest output since March 2023 and comes as a surprise despite the recent output addition.
Azule Energy, a 50:50 joint venture between Eni and BP, brought online the Agogo FPSO, pumping over 100,000 barrels of oil daily.
The vessel, built by Yinson Production, arrived in Angola from Singapore in May.
Also, TotalEnergies began commercial production from the CLOV Phase 3 and BEGONIA offshore projects in Angola, adding a combined 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of new output.
This scenario worsens the fiscal position of Angola, which currently depends on oil for over 80% of its export revenues, including battling to clear billions of dollars in Chinese loans.
Nevertheless, the Sonadrill contracts are expected to unlock further volumes to bolster Angola’s output and meet its set target.
