Unlocking Africa's Hydrocarbon Potential: Key Exploration Projects to Watch in 2025
Africa's oil and gas industry continues to attract investment as new discoveries and frontier basins drive exploration activity across the continent. In 2025, several high-impact projects will shape the sector, offering opportunities for resource development and economic growth. As the continent's premier oil and gas event, African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2025 will provide critical insights into ongoing and upcoming exploration activities, including high-impact drilling campaigns in Namibia, Angola, Libya and more. With discussions centered on investment, infrastructure and regulatory frameworks, the conference will highlight how these projects can drive economic growth and energy security.
TotalEnergies' Venus Appraisal – Namibia
Following the massive Venus-1 discovery in 2022, TotalEnergies is intensifying its appraisal efforts in Namibia's Block 2913B. The Venus prospect is believed to contain one of the largest oil accumulations ever found in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2025, additional drilling and well testing will help confirm reserve estimates and guide development planning. If commercial viability is established, Venus could be a game-changer for Namibia, attracting significant investment in infrastructure and production facilities.
Azule Energy's Exploration Wells – Angola
Azule Energy, a joint venture between bp and Eni, is ramping up exploration efforts in Angola as the country seeks to sustain and expand its oil production. In 2025, the company plans to drill multiple offshore wells across its deepwater blocks, focusing on high-potential prospects in the Lower Congo and Kwanza Basins. With Angola aiming to attract new investment and maintain output amid maturing fields, Azule Energy's drilling campaign is expected to play a crucial role in identifying new reserves and extending the country's production horizon. Success in these wells could reinforce Angola's position as a leading oil producer in Africa while driving further exploration interest in its offshore acreage.
Africa Oil Corp.'s Deepwater Activity – Nigeria
In 2025, Nigeria's offshore drilling activity will include continued development in key deepwater fields. Africa Oil Corp. is advancing drilling plans at the Akpo and Egina fields, following a successful infill production well at Akpo. Meanwhile, a new seismic acquisition at the Agbami field, completed in late 2024, is being processed ahead of a scheduled drilling campaign in 2026. These efforts aim to enhance production and optimize resource recovery in Nigeria's offshore sector.
ReconAfrica's Onshore Drilling – Namibia
While offshore exploration dominates headlines, onshore activity in Namibia's Kavango Basin is also drawing attention. Canadian company ReconAfrica is continuing its drilling program in 2025, aiming to prove the existence of a working petroleum system in this frontier basin. Early results have been inconclusive, but new wells could provide the breakthrough needed to confirm hydrocarbon potential. Success here would open up a vast new exploration play, adding to Africa's onshore energy resources.
Eni's Sirte Basin Program – Libya
Eni remains committed to expanding its upstream operations in Libya. In 2025, the Italian major plans to drill new offshore wells in the Mediterranean, focusing on previously identified prospects with high hydrocarbon potential. The company has confirmed shallow, deepwater and ultra-deep offshore plays and currently has four exploration wells in its 2025 pipeline, including an offshore drilling campaign in the Sirte Basin by the end of the year.
'Oil and gas is the lifeblood of our civilization, therefore exploration is the arteries and veins. We need to continue promoting policies that can fast-track exploration. The African Energy Chamber (AEC) will continue working with governments and the oil companies to attract foreign investment, streamline project implementation, and reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks. We will see results at AEW: Invest in African Energies in Cape Town South with G20 leaders participating for the first time,' stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, AEC.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arabian Post
a day ago
- Arabian Post
AI Browser Agents Mark New Era with H Company Launch
Runner H, Surfer H and Tester H, three autonomous AI agents developed by Paris-based H Company, make web-native task automation available across consumer and enterprise settings. The framework integrates advanced vision–language models that perceive browser interfaces and predict actions like clicking buttons or filling text fields, executing them via a headless browser. Runner H acts as the orchestrator. It receives natural‑language instructions, composes workflows using specialised sub‑agents and interacts with platforms such as Google Drive, Slack and Notion. In corporate pilots across France and abroad, Runner H has already begun generating revenue, even as the company offers a limited-edge free version for individual users. Surfer H is a browsing‑focused agent powered by an open‑sourced model called Holo‑1. Built on Alibaba Cloud's Qwen with H Company's enhancements, Holo‑1 records a 92.2 % success rate on the WebVoyager benchmarking suite—surpassing competitors including Google's Project Mariner and OpenAI's Operator—while reportedly cutting per‑query costs by over five‑fold. ADVERTISEMENT Tester H is tailored for web automation and testing, converting English-language prompts into scripted interactions like form‑filling or button‑clicking. The tool rides on the back of the company's 2024 acquisition of Mithril Security, integrating security‑focused mechanisms while aiming to simplify QA workflows for engineers. Benchmarks show Runner H outperforming market alternatives. On WebVoyager, its VLM–LLM pipeline yielded a 67 % task‑completion rate—exceeding Emergence AgentE at 61 % and Anthropic's Computer Use agent at 52 %. The backbone of Runner H comprises a 3‑billion‑parameter H‑VLM for interpreting GUI elements and a family of internal LLMs optimised for decision‑making and code generation. H Company introduced these agents alongside its Studio platform in March. The Studio provides a unified interface for designing, editing and running web automations, with self‑healing UI selectors and workflow version control. The platform currently operates in a private beta, yet H Company envisions expanding access to developers and broader audiences soon. Founded by former DeepMind researchers and headquartered in Paris, H Company has grown to a team of around 70, with an office in London and plans to open in the United States. Its vision is to redefine AI—from dialogue assistants to action‑driven agents capable of autonomously executing tasks across software and services. AI‑powered automation is gaining momentum. Open-source browser agents such as OpenAI's Operator, Anthropic's Claude Computer Use, and various community initiatives are rapidly evolving. Notably, H Company is contributing to that momentum by publishing research on its Vision‑Language and Large Language Models, and by releasing Holo‑1 under an open‑source licence, accelerating accessibility for developers. H Company is refining capabilities via reinforcement learning, agent debugging tools, memory, planning modules and community support. Their research emphasises modularity and cost‑efficiency—showing VLMs can outperform large generalist models in task‑grounding while operating at a fraction of the size and serve‑time cost.
Zawya
3 days ago
- Zawya
Angola's Block 17 Partners Sign License Extension, Signaling Commitment to Increasing Offshore Production
Energy major ExxonMobil, alongside partners TotalEnergies (operator), Equinor, Azule Energy and Sonangol - has signed a production sharing contract (PSC) extension for Block 17, situated offshore Angola. Securing the long-term future of one of the country's most productive oil assets, the extension marks a major milestone in Angola's efforts to sustain oil production above one million barrels per day. The African Energy Chamber (AEC) – serving as the voice of Africa's energy sector - fully supports this extension as a vital move to unlock continued value from legacy assets and stimulate reinvestment in mature fields. By extending the license of mature assets, reinvesting in producing blocks and eyeing new opportunities offshore Angola, major operators stand to accelerate the country's oil and gas growth while unlocking greater returns in deepwater basins. Block 17 is one of Angola's most prolific and strategically important offshore assets. Home to world-class developments such as Dalia and CLOV, the block has been a cornerstone of Angola's oil output for over two decades. The extension of the PSC ensures that existing infrastructure and expertise continue to generate value for Angola, reinforcing the significance of mature fields in driving production and attracting investment. The AEC sees this agreement as a clear commitment by ExxonMobil and its partners to maximizing existing resources while deploying advanced technologies to enhance recovery. Under the leadership of Katrina Fisher, Managing Director of ExxonMobil Angola, the company has demonstrated a forward-looking approach, aligning with national priorities to maintain and increase oil production. Projects like CLOV and Dalia highlight how mature assets, when paired with innovation and strategic investment, can remain competitive. Meanwhile, beyond Block 17, ExxonMobil's work in the Namibe Basin, including frontier exploration across Blocks 30, 44 and 45, illustrates a dual-track strategy of sustaining mature fields while pursuing new discoveries. This balanced approach strengthens Angola's upstream landscape and ensures resilience amid global energy transitions. As such, the AEC also applauds the collaborative nature of the PSC extension. TotalEnergies, as operator of Block 17, has built a legacy of operational excellence alongside ExxonMobil and other major stakeholders. Such cooperation between international oil companies and Angola's government entities is essential for long-term sectoral growth and investment stability. Chevron's recent signing of risk service contracts for ultra-deepwater Blocks 29 and 50 further underscores the sustained confidence global energy majors place in Angola's hydrocarbon potential. These developments, combined with ExxonMobil's Block 17 extension, signal a broader trend: mature fields are not in decline – they are being revitalized. 'As ExxonMobil continues to lead on legacy asset optimization and frontier exploration, the AEC stands firmly in support of this agreement extension. It is a critical step in reinforcing Angola's position as a top-tier African oil producer and ensuring continued economic benefit for its people,' states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, AEC. 'The AEC remains dedicated to championing policies and partnerships that enable energy independence, maximize resource value and foster inclusive development across the African continent.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
Zawya
3 days ago
- Zawya
Azule Energy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to Discuss Angolan Projects, Future Investments at Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2025
Adriano Mongini, CEO of international energy company Azule Energy, will speak at this year's Angola Oil&Gas (AOG) conference. Taking place on September 3-4 in Luanda, the event is the premier event for the country's oil and gas industry, convening leaders, operators and financiers under one roof. At the helm of various impactful projects in Angola, Azule Energy is well-positioned to lead dialogue on Angola's oil and gas industry – which continues to serve as a catalyst for development as the country celebrates 50 years of independence in 2025. As the country's largest independent equity producer of oil and gas, Azule Energy has set a bold target to reach 250,000 barrels per day (bpd). To achieve this, the company is advancing offshore oil projects while spearheading the country's first non-associated gas development. Through innovative FPSO technologies, expanded production facilities and partnerships with international operators, the company is setting a strong benchmark for sustainable oil and gas production. At AOG 2025, Mongini is expected to outline ongoing projects. AOG is the largest oil and gas event in Angola. Taking place with the full support of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas; the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency; the Petroleum Derivatives Regulatory Institute; national oil company Sonangol; and the African Energy Chamber; the event is a platform to sign deals and advance Angola's oil and gas industry. To sponsor or participate as a delegate, please contact sales@ Azule Energy is preparing to start operations at two major oil and gas projects. The first project, featuring the development of the Agogo FPSO, aims to increase production capacity at the Agogo Integrated West Hub Development. Situated in Block 15/06, the project comprises the operational Ngoma FPSO, with the addition of the Agogo vessel expected to increase capacity by 120,000 bpd. The project is developed in partnership with Angola's national oil company Sonangol E&P and Chinese firm Sinopec. As of May 2025, the Agogo FPSO arrived in Angolan waters, planning a H2, 2025 start. In addition to the Agogo project, Azule Energy – as operator of the New Gas Consortium (NGC) – is developing the country's first non-associated gas project. The project will harness gas resources from the Quiluma&Maboqueiro (Q&M) shallow water fields and features the construction of an onshore facility and a connection to the Angola LNG plant in Soyo. In February 2025, Azule Energy – alongside its NGC partners Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, Sonangol P&P and TotalEnergies – completed the offshore platforms for the project. Production is set to start in early-2026. With 18 licenses – 11 of which are operated – and a combined production portfolio of 210,000 bpd, Azule Energy plays an instrumental part in monetizing Angola's oil and gas resources. As the company expands its production portfolio, Azule Energy will continue to unlock value from the hydrocarbon market. Through his participation at AOG 2025, Mongini will offer insight into the company's strategy in Angola, including non-associated gas opportunities, strategies for boosting production and future prospects. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital&Power.
