Angola’s national oil company Sonangol reiterated its commitment to driving sustainable hydrocarbon development during the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) conference this week. Speaking during an “In-Conversation with” session, Sonangol CEO Sebastião Gaspar Martins stated that the company will not abandon oil and gas, but rather advance decarbonized oil and gas development.

By investing in upstream oil and gas production while prioritizing low-carbon projects, Sonangol aims to boost national crude output, while diversifying and decarbonizing the industry. The NOC is focusing efforts on non-associated gas development, as well as alternative energy sources such as solar.

“We are looking at opportunities in the gas sector and have identified the right partner to develop non-associated gas. Gas produced from Angola LNG will be used for the production of fertilizer and we are evaluating the utilization of gas in the south of the country, linking gas with steel industries. We also have a blue carbon project, linked to the reduction of carbon through the plantation of mangroves. We have one area in Luanda and have identified four additional areas for this,” stated Gaspar Martins.

Sonangol has undergone transformation in recent years: following the creation of the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency (ANPG) in 2019, Sonangol transferred its role as national concessionaire and regulator. This transformation has aimed to make Sonangol more competitive and strengthen its capacity as an upstream operator. Concurrently, the government is partially privatizing the NOC, with privatization set to be complete in 2026. This process will enhance financial capacity, allowing Sonangol to drive new upstream projects forward.

“The transformation of Sonangol started several years ago, when we passed the regulatory, concessionaire role to the ANPG. At the time, we transferred almost 600 employees to the ANPG. After that, Sonangol underwent a restructuring program where we created five core business units from 36 different entities – starting with exploration and production. We want to go public, but we want to do it properly. So, we are currently going through all the processes to do this,” stated Gaspar Martins.