TOTAL has surged ahead of the pack in Angolan production. The French major, who kept a distant second to Chevron for most of the 90s and early 2000s, has zoomed past the American company, with a clear gap of 125,000BOPD in operated production.
TOTAL is doing around 650,000BOPD in Angola today, which is roughly a third of that country’s total output. Chevron now maintains a respectable second position, with 525,000BOPD, a slight drop from the 540,000BOPD it did between 2003 and 2004.
The years 2003 and 2004 are crucial in Angola’s recent production history. That was when the country crossed into the 1million plus barrels per day mark.
The field of operators has become more crowded and competitive than it was 10 years ago, when Chevron and TOTAL were almost a duopoly. ExxonMobil is producing 425,000BOPD, up from a mere 80,000BOPD in 2003/2004. BP, today, weighs in at 190,000BOPD. It wasn’t yet a producer in 20003/2004.
On the back of deepwater discoveries made in the mid to late 90s, Angolan reserves estimates jumped from 6Billion barrel recoverable reserves to 13.5Billion barrels by 2010. TOTAL was the first, in that country, to put a field in excess of 150,000BOPD in production.
ANGOLAN DAILY PRODUCTlON-2003/2004 (AVERAGE)
SHELF/ONSHORE/DEEP WATER
Chevron Texaco 540,000 BOPD
TOTAL 368,000 BOPD
Exxon Mobil 80,000 BOPD
Sonangol P&P Canuku 8,000 BOPD
GROSS TOTAL: 986,000BOPD
ANGOLAN DAILY PRODUCTION 2011/2012(AVERAGE)
SHELF/ONSHORE/DEEPWATER
TOTAL 650,000BOPD
Chevron 525,000BOPD
ExxonMobil 425,000BOPD
BP 190,000BOPD
Somoil 10,000BOPD (onshore Soyo area)
GROSS TOTAL 1,800,000 BOPD
Source: Company data, Angolan Government.
