AOG 2025: TotalEnergies Commits to Annual Exploration Drilling to Counter Production Decline
Martin Deffontaines, Managing Director of TotalEnergies Angola, announced that the company plans to drill one exploration well per year in Angola as part of its strategy to reverse natural production decline. The statement was made during the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2025 Conference and Exhibition.
As one of the country’s largest oil producers, TotalEnergies has been facing natural declines in its mature fields. To address this challenge, the company is reinvesting in well integrity at existing assets and launching new exploration programs.
“Our main challenge is to maintain and increase production. We have facilities approaching 20 to 25 years of project life, such as Girassol and Dalia. Next will be PAZFLOR and CLOV. Maintaining well integrity is the first challenge. Another challenge is exploration, to bring new projects online, add production, and curb the decline. We are drilling one exploration well per year, which will help us increase production,” explained Deffontaines.
TotalEnergies has strengthened its position as one of Angola’s largest producers through major offshore projects. In 2025, the company added 60,000 barrels per day to national production with the start-up of the Begonia and CLOV Phase 3 projects, which provided a much-needed boost to the country’s production capacity. Begonia stood out as Angola’s first inter-block development, highlighting the value of synergies in offshore exploration.
Meanwhile, CLOV Phase 3, located in Block 17, demonstrated the additional potential of producing fields. Comprising four subsea wells tied back to the CLOV FPSO, the project increased the block’s capacity. This milestone came after TotalEnergies and its partners secured a license extension for the block until 2045, extending the life of the Dalia FPSO.
“We have just celebrated the start-up of two projects in 2025. The first is Begonia, and I was impressed by the level of commitment from all involved parties. Another example is Kaminho – a $6 billion project that we were able to make viable thanks to our partners,” added Deffontaines.
For the future, TotalEnergies maintains the goal of further increasing national production, with the Kaminho project as a strategic priority. After the final investment decision in 2024, the project – the first major deepwater development in the offshore Kwanza Basin – is expected to come on stream in 2028.
Beyond oil and gas, TotalEnergies is strengthening local content through programs to build the capacity of youth and women in Angola. Deffontaines emphasized that, in the face of global energy transition challenges, innovation and the engagement of new generations will be crucial:
“We need young people to be with us, as protagonists of the transition – not against oil and gas.”
With this objective, the company has several programs underway. It currently supports 30 young Angolans in their first professional experience. In 2024, it launched a program aimed at women, providing opportunities to 24 recent female graduates in technical areas such as drilling and field operations. Today, TotalEnergies has its first female field manager at PAZFLOR.
These initiatives reflect TotalEnergies’ commitment in Angola: to create value from petroleum resources while simultaneously investing in skills development and human capital formation.
