Angola boosts efforts to shore up flagging production

Africa's second-largest oil exporter needs more than the currently envisaged pipeline of oil projects if it is to remain a force

Angola is pushing hard to win further investment from both existing and new upstream partners, as it seeks to stave off production declines from its maturing mainstay fields. The coming year should give a good idea of its chances of success, with the first licensing round for eight years planned and direct talks with majors over fresh exploration likely to come to a head. Carlos Saturnino, president of state energy firm Sonangol, has been busy playing up the positives for an oil province that has traditionally proved costly for operators. He insists all Angolan oil projects are profitable with oil trading at $60-70/bl and could survive a return to much lower prices than that. "With oil at $6