Sebastião Gaspar Martins, Chairman of Sonangol, announced that the company plans to drill an exploration well at Block 24 in Angola. Situated in the southern Kwanza Basin, Block 24 is a largely unexplored asset with significant potential.
Speaking during a fireside chat during the Angola Oil & Gas 2025 Conference and Exhibition, Gaspar Martins underscored that the company remains committed to investing in the upstream oil and gas sector. Sonangol plans to leverage capital generated from these projects to support the development of Angola’s petroleum value chain.
“Until 2019, we had a concessionaire role, played today by the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency. Free of this role, we positioned Sonangol into a company that is able to have stakes in nearly 41 concessions. We remain focused on our oil and gas exploration and production. This enables us to drive development in other sectors. We will drill an exploration well on Block 24 which will bring us additional reserves. We will continue being the greatest investor in the Angolan oil and gas sector,” Gaspar Martins stated.
Sonangol continues to drive ambitious projects across the downstream sector. The company started operations at the Cabinda Oil Refinery in 2025, with the project’s first phase bringing 30,000 barrels per day to the market. Sonangol is also investing in downstream infrastructure, logistics and transportation, striving to position Angola as a major petroleum hub.
“We are present throughout the whole value chain in oil and gas. This means that over the last 50 years, we have served the country by distributing petroleum products, selling to the international market with mean acquired by us. We also have about 12 ships operated by us and are making logistical support to all the oil industry,” Gaspar Martins shared.
Beyond upstream investments, Sonangol has been at the forefront of the government’s human capital development, with partnerships and initiatives strengthening skills development, technology transfer and local participation across the market. Notable programs include SonaJovem, an initiative that aims to introduce 50 high-impact startups to the Angolan market. Sonangol also signed agreements with Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. The agreements support the development of Angola’s natural resources through knowledge-exchange, joint research and academic mentoring.
“We are a company that also has a responsibility for the development of our youth. SonaJovem will serve on our behalf to develop young entrepreneurs in the industry in the oil sector. Out of 18,000 youths, we have selected 6,000. We have 150 people in an incubator project with the objective of becoming future entrepreneurs,” Gaspar Martins said.