Angola’s upstream regulator – the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency (ANPG) – is revitalizing production across the country’s mature oilfields through the implementation of the Incremental Production Decree. Delivering a presentation during the Angola Oil & Gas 2025 pre-conference – hosted ahead of the main conference agenda taking place on September 3 – Victor Dos Santos, Incremental Production Core Coordinator at the ANPG, shared insights into the fiscal and tax incentives offered through the decree. The presentation was sponsored by the ANPG.
“The Incremental Production Decree is aimed at recovering the economic value of assets, bearing in mind that these assets are mature and have produced about 70% of their initial reserves. Since they have been producing for 17 years or more, their facilities are ageing. We realized that there are still some undeveloped opportunities at these assets. We implemented terms that allowed operators to invest in these opportunities,” Dos Santos shared.
Aimed at maximizing output at Angola’s mature fields, the decree is a central part of the government’s efforts to sustain oil production above one million barrels per day, strengthening the attractiveness of reinvesting in producing assets. Benefits include addressing production decline by stabilizing base production; enabling operators to produce above-base production; enhancing operational efficiency; balancing stakeholder take; promoting additional exploration within producing assets; and unlocking stranded potential that was not typically economically viable with the current fiscal terms.
“There is tax reduction available for operators. Under the Production Sharing Agreement, Petroleum Income Tax (PIT) has been reduced from 50% to 25%, while for an association contract, PIT has been reduced from 65.75% to 55.75%,” Dos Santos said.
These incentives ensure that operators are able to extend the lifespan of producing assets as well as their associated facilities and equipment, thereby maintaining the workforce and introducing new activities for service providers. By increasing production, Angola is enhancing the recovery factor and maximize revenues for all stakeholders. Through the Incremental Production Decree, operators can recovery exploration well costs, regardless of whether a discovery is made. Marginal fields within producing blocks also stand to benefit through differentiated contractual and fiscal terms.
The Incremental Production Decree is not the only policy change brought about by the ANPG. Striving to entice investment across a variety of assets – from large-scale fields to marginal assets to non-associated projects – the ANPG has introduced a series of measures in recent years that offers improved fiscals for upstream players.
“We implemented a decree – Decree 5/18 – to allow operators to continue exploration activities within the development areas. This decree was supposed to be an incentive to operators, bearing in mind that during the development phase, some fields would mature. This ensures that fields can be extended beyond the production license.”
He added that “the second policy we implemented was Decree 6/18 – targeting marginal fields. We implemented this decree to allow operators to have better fiscal terms to enable companies to develop fields. Decree 7/18 focused on the monetization of gas. We also implemented incentives through Decree 8/14 to stimulate additional production in mature fields. This allows investors to invest more.”
