Angola’s National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), together with Azule Energy (Operator) and partners Sonangol E&P and Equinor, have announced the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Greater PAJ Project, a major offshore oil development located in Blocks 31 and 31/21.
Greater PAJ is Angola’s first integrated cross-block development, representing a coordinated approach to developing hydrocarbon resources across two adjacent concessions. The project reinforces Angola’s strategy to promote efficient resource management, optimize infrastructure, and sustain oil production.
Total oil reserves associated with the development are estimated at 252 million barrels (MMSTB), with approximately 143 million barrels in Block 31 and 108 million barrels in Block 31/21.
The project is expected to deliver approximately 1.8 million manhours of local content, combining large-scale fabrication—over six thousand five hundred (6,500) tons of structures, piles, and risers—with extensive assembly and onshore/offshore support activities, while training and mobilizing a substantial national workforce—driving tangible, long-term in-country capability.
With first oil expected in the first half of 2029, the project brings together five offshore fields across the two blocks -Palas, Astraea and Juno in Block 31 and Urano and Dione in Block 31/21. The overall development concept consists of 17 wells, 10 oil producers (4 in Block 31/21) and 7 water injectors (3 in Block 31/21) – connected to a new Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) with nameplate capacity of 95,000 barrels of oil per day.
The Final Investment Decision (FID) ceremony also marked a key execution milestone, with the signature of six main contracts critical to project delivery. These include the FPSO contract with CIMC Raffles, Subsea Production Systems (SPS) with Baker Hughes, umbilicals with OneSubsea, risers and flowlines with TechnipFMC, rigid pipes with Vallourec, and transportation and installation with Saipem—bringing together leading global partners to advance the project.
