Angola Targets Stable Oil Output as Refining Capacity Expands

Angola plans to maintain crude oil production near 1 million barrels per day while expanding refining capacity through major projects at Cabinda and Lobito.

(Reuters) — Angola aims to hold its oil output steady over the next year, its oil and minerals minister said on Thursday, adding that higher prices from its crude exports due to the Iran war are helping to offset increased costs for imported fuels.

The African nation left producer group OPEC in 2024 over a disagreement about output quotas, although production since has fallen from 1.16 million barrels per day in 2024 to 1.07 million bpd in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency.

"Our main goal is to maintain the production of one million barrels for the next year to come," Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, told reporters in London at the Angola Oil, Gas & Mining Investment Conference.

Largely reliant on imported petroleum products, many other African countries have been left scrambling as price surges forced governments to implement emergency measures to reduce the impact on consumers, while airline operators have introduced temporary fuel surcharges and farmers have struggled to access diesel ahead of planting season.

Angola is developing more oil refining capacity that will help it become self-sufficient and turn into an exporter of fuels, the minister said. In April, the country imported around 88,000 bpd of refined products, half of which was gasoline, Kpler data shows.

The Cabinda refinery is working at 30,000 bpd and another 30,000 bpd of capacity at the plant will be added later, the minister said, without specifying when.

Construction of the Lobito refinery, being developed by state oil company Sonangol and due to be the country's largest at 200,000 bpd, is about half complete and expected to be finished by 2029, he said.