Angola struggles to raise production capacity

Angola will see only small increases in oil production capacity for the next few years – or perhaps none, if the decline in output from the older deep-water fields cannot be checked

Angola’s brand as a rapidly-expanding oil producer has become tarnished in recent years, and it will be well into 2017 before the country sees another significant increase in production capacity. If the older deep-water fields – some have been in production for more than 10 years – continue to water-out, this year and next could bring a decline in capacity. Petroleum Economist’s field-by-field estimates, drawing on company information where available, point to a production capacity at present of 1.78 million barrels a day (b/d). That figure could rise to 1.94m b/d by the end of 2015, with the start-up of new phases of Chevron’s Mafumeira development in Block 0 and ExxonMobil’s Kizomba satell