Angola's oil industry

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Angola, "sub-Saharan Africa's second largest oil producer behind Nigeria," [1] "lies on the southern curve of the Gulf of Guinea, anchoring an oil-rich geologic shelf running across the Atlantic from Brazil that has turned Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon into major crude exporters." [2]

  • United States

The United States "imports more oil from Angola than from Kuwait." [3] The U.S. is "expected to import 25 percent of its oil from Africa by 2015. Whether it will export democracy and stability in return is another question â?? one that will most likely be answered by the way in which American oil companies and the United States conduct business with countries like Angola." [4]

  • China

In February 2006, Angola replaced Saudi Arabia as "oil-hungry" China's "top source of crude imports," shipping 2.12-million tonnes of crude to China, exceeding Saudi Arabia's 1.98-million tonnes, Petromatrix Gmbh, "a trade advisory and risk management company," said. In January 2006, Angola was "China's third-biggest supplier," shipping 1.55-million tonnes of crude, behind Iran's 1.89-million tonnes and 1.55-million tonnes shipped by Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, Petromatrix said."

"'Chinese imports of Angolan crude are up 42% on year and taking most [of] the Angolan production increase,' the analyst said." [5]

Background

"Oil was first discovered in Angola in 1955, but production did not really start to climb until the discovery of oil offshore Cabinda in the 1960s." [6]

Angola has divided its "exclusive maritime economic zone into 76 oil blocks," of which 35 are active. [7] "Block Zero, the main oil-producing block offshore Cabinda, still accounts for more than half of Angola's oil production, producing about 550,000 bpd." [8]

"Significant discoveries have been made in Blocks 14, 15, 17 and 18 since the mid 1990's." [9] "Crude reserves also are located onshore around the city of Soyo, offshore in the Kwanza Basin north of Luanda, and offshore of the northern coast." [10]

Oil-Dependent Economy

MBendi reports that Angola's oil industry and oil derivatives industry account for "91.92 percent of total exports. Petroleum and petroleum products generated nearly $9.7 billion in State revenues in 2004. Angola is a key player in Africa's oil industry as both a major producer and exporter. It is the second largest producer of oil in Sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and offshore Angola is recognised as a world-class area for oil exploration and production. Angola produces crude oils that have an API gravity ranging from 32 degrees to 39.5 degrees and a sulphur content of 1.12% to 0.14%.

"Angola's economy is highly dependent on the oil sector, which accounts for 40% of GDP and 80% of government revenues." Sonangol, the national oil company of Angola, "was established in 1976 and manages all fuel production and distribution in Angola." [11]

Oil Companies in Angola

Foreign

Domestic

Related SourceWatch Resources

External links

Profiles

Maps

  • Angola Maps, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas.
  • Angola, WorldAtlas.com.

Articles & Commentary

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