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ExxonMobil’s affiliate in Angola has just awarded Valaris a two-year contract for drillship VALARIS DS-9. The rig is to be reactivated and mobilized to Angola in June 2022.

This marks the resumption of drilling activities for ExxonMobil in Angola following a June 2019 agreement with National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) to further invest in the development of Block 15.

While ExxonMobil has deployed four floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units on Block 15 in 2004, 2005 and 2008, the license offers significant potential for redevelopment to tap into remaining reserves. In the first nine months of 2021, the block exported an average of 158,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) according to data from Angola’s Ministry of Finance.

To facilitate further development, the block’s 11 development areas were merged into only four in 2019. Additional investment is expected to unlock about 40,000 bopd of additional production and generate 1,000 local jobs as expansion projects get executed.

ExxonMobil’s multi-year drilling program on the block is expected to involve 17 wells in phase one, followed by about 20 wells in phase 2.