Oil majors sing praise for Angola

Major international oil companies expressed optimism after securing rights to explore deep waters off Angola's coast following a licensing round. French supermajor Total announced it signed three production sharing agreements with Angola's state-owned Sonangol. The three blocks awarded to Total, which shares part of the allocation with Norwegian energy company Statoil, lie in what the supermajor described as the "largely under-explored" Kwanza basin off of Angola's coast. Total described the Kwanza basin as geographically similar to oil-rich deposits off the coast of Brazil, which is expecting a major oil boom. "We will be leveraging our proved deep offshore expertise and know-how," Marc Blaizot, a vice president of exploration and production at Total, said in a statement. "These awards demonstrate and reinforce Total's bold exploration strategy." British supermajor BP confirmed it secured access to five deep-water blocks off the coast of Angola, giving it a leading position in the region. "In October, we told the markets we would build on our strengths in exploration and in the deep water to provide future growth for BP," BP Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said. "This new access builds on the major presence we have developed in Angola over the past 10 years, investing a total of $21 billion in the business."