Angolan oil output exceeds 1m barrels

LUANDA – Angola’s oil production has for the first time broken the one million barrels a day barrier after a new offshore field came online, officials said.

An offshore field called Kizomba, operated and majority-owned by Britain’s BP Amoco, is producing 120 000 barrels a day, two senior officials with state oil company Sonangol said on condition of anonymity. Sonangol also owns a stake in the field.The officials said an official announcement on the southwest African country’s production increase would be made at a later date.The Kizomba field is expected to increase production to 250 000 barrels a day in coming months, the officials said.Angola, which is not a member of Opec, is sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest producer after Nigeria.Its oil production, mostly offshore, began to rise in late 2001 with the start-up of the Girassol field.Output surpassed 900 000 barrels a day in early 2002.The government has predicted output could rise to 1,6-million barrels a day next year.United States companies ChevronTexaco and Exxon Mobil, as well as European competitors BP and TotalFinaElf, are among the energy companies pumping or exploring for oil in the country.Oil sales generate 90 per cent of Angola’s hard currency.- Nampa-APSonangol also owns a stake in the field.The officials said an official announcement on the southwest African country’s production increase would be made at a later date.The Kizomba field is expected to increase production to 250 000 barrels a day in coming months, the officials said.Angola, which is not a member of Opec, is sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest producer after Nigeria.Its oil production, mostly offshore, began to rise in late 2001 with the start-up of the Girassol field.Output surpassed 900 000 barrels a day in early 2002.The government has predicted output could rise to 1,6-million barrels a day next year.United States companies ChevronTexaco and Exxon Mobil, as well as European competitors BP and TotalFinaElf, are among the energy companies pumping or exploring for oil in the country.Oil sales generate 90 per cent of Angola’s hard currency.- Nampa-AP