TotalEnergies bets another $10 billion on Angola's offshore oil

TotalEnergies is planning to put $10 billion into Angola over the next five years, adding to the money it is already spending on one of Africa's biggest offshore oil operations. The announcement was made in Luanda on 9 September by TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné. The company produces about 450,000 barrels of oil a day in Angola. It is also building the $6 billion Kaminho development and looking for more oil in areas close to its existing fields. 

The company has already found some. On 10 September, TotalEnergies announced the Acacia-5 discovery in Block 17. The well is expected to produce about 6,000 barrels a day. Production could begin within months because TotalEnergies plans to use unused capacity on the Pazflor FPSO, which is already operating offshore. There is no new production vessel to build for this particular discovery. That matters in deepwater oil. A new field can take years to develop and requires billions of dollars of equipment and infrastructure. Acacia-5 can use what is already there.

The search is moving to two more blocks

TotalEnergies is also taking a 40% operated interest in Blocks 17/25 and 32/21 in the Lower Congo Basin. The company is not starting with a blank map. Both areas have 3D seismic data and sit near TotalEnergies' existing operations. The company operates six FPSOs across Blocks 17 and 32, according to TotalEnergies. If exploration finds commercial quantities of oil, being close to existing facilities could make development easier. That is one reason the company is spending more money in an area where it already has people, equipment and production infrastructure.

Kaminho is the big new project

The largest project in the pipeline is Kaminho. TotalEnergies and its partners are spending about $6 billion on the development, which is located around 100 kilometres off Angola's coast in the Kwanza Basin. First oil is expected in 2028. Kaminho will have its own FPSO and will add a new source of production to TotalEnergies' Angolan portfolio. The project is important because Angola's existing oil fields are getting older.

What could it mean for small businesses?

A large oil investment does not mean that every SME in Angola will suddenly get more business. The opportunities are more likely to appear around the companies working directly and indirectly on the projects. Oil operators need businesses that can provide transport, equipment maintenance, catering, accommodation, cleaning, security, construction, welding, fabrication, IT services and other supplies. Some of this work is handled by large international contractors, but those contractors also need local suppliers and service companies. 

The $6 billion Kaminho project is therefore more important to local businesses than the headline $10 billion figure alone. As construction and development work increases, there can be more contracts moving through the supply chain. Smaller Angolan companies that can meet the technical, safety, financial and procurement requirements of oil companies and their contractors are in a better position to win that work. There is also a potential opportunity for businesses outside the oil industry. More workers and contractors operating around major projects can increase demand for transport, food, accommodation, retail and other services in nearby areas.

But there is a catch. Large oil projects can also favour companies that already have the equipment, financing and certifications needed to work in the industry. For smaller businesses, getting onto the supplier list can be harder than finding the work itself. That makes local-content rules and procurement programmes important if Angola wants more of the $10 billion to circulate through domestic businesses.

Keeping production from falling

Angola produces roughly 1 million barrels of oil a day. Keeping that number steady is becoming harder as production from mature fields falls. New wells can help, but they need to be commercially viable. Large offshore projects also take years and require substantial capital. This explains why TotalEnergies is working on several things at once. There is the large Kaminho project, smaller discoveries such as Acacia-5, new exploration blocks and further work on existing fields. The company is also planning to use AI to analyse geological information as it searches for more oil in the Angolan Basin. The $10 billion figure therefore covers a collection of projects and exploration work rather than one giant new oilfield. For Angola's SMEs, the important question is not simply how much TotalEnergies spends. It is how much of that spending reaches Angolan companies.

If local suppliers can win contracts around drilling, construction, logistics, maintenance and the services supporting offshore operations, the investment can create business well beyond the oil companies themselves. If most of the work and procurement remains with large international contractors, the effect on smaller Angolan businesses will be much smaller. For TotalEnergies, the calculation is whether there is enough oil left offshore to justify another decade of investment. For Angola's smaller businesses, the calculation is whether they can get close enough to the projects to win some of the work.