French oil major TotalEnergies will invest $10 billion with partners in Angola over the next five years across various projects, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said at an oil conference in Luanda on Wednesday.
Angola, Sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest crude oil producer after Nigeria, has undertaken a major regulatory overhaul to encourage exploration investment as it looks to maintain production levels amid mature offshore fields.
TotalEnergies produces around 450,000 barrels per day in Angola and the company is working hard to maintain that level, Pouyanne said, as the country strives to maintain output of around one million bpd.
"Investments are necessary to achieve these production levels," he told delegates.
Pouyanne said the French energy major had signed two new exploration licences for offshore Blocks 17 and 32 and would launch an artificial intelligence geoscience initiative with major companies to support exploration of Angola's offshore oil blocks.
(Reporting by Miguel Gomes in Luanda and Wendell Roelf in Cape Town. Writing by Nilutpal Timsina. Editing by Mark Potter)