Angola Gas Find Puts Domestic Supply First

Angola’s Katambi-2 well flowed 41 million standard cubic feet of gas and 1,160 barrels of condensate a day during a test. But it remains a test result, not a producing field. Sonangol says Angola would put any gas to domestic use first, while also considering possible exports. The company hasn’t made public a development plan, investment figure, reserve estimate, partners or schedule for first gas.

What the Test Found

The national oil agency ANPG and state oil company Sonangol announced the test results on August 6, 2026. Katambi-2 lies in Block 24 of the Benguela Basin, about 370 kilometres southwest of Luanda. ANPG called it Angola’s first full flow test of a non-associated gas reservoir, where gas occurs separately rather than as an oil by-product.

The well test found no water and no hydrogen sulphide. ANPG said an early assessment pointed to potential flow above 100 million cubic feet a day, exceeding the 41 million cubic feet recorded during the test. That figure remains an early assessment, not a reported production rate.

At the tested rate, the well produced about 1.16 million cubic metres of gas daily. Maintained for a year, that rate would mean roughly 15 billion cubic feet of output. ANPG’s early assessment of more than 100 million cubic feet a day equals about 2.8 million cubic metres.

Katambi-2 lies 1.3 kilometres from Katambi-1, an exploration well BP drilled in 2014 and 2015. The new well crossed two productive layers with a combined thickness of about 331 metres. Average porosity measured 9% to 12%, and the well showed better permeability than the first well.

Domestic Use and Possible Exports

Sonangol chairman Sebastião Gaspar Martins described Katambi-2 as a “pure gas field” in an interview published by the Angolan weekly Novo Jornal on October 17, 2026. Martins called the find a historic milestone for Angola’s oil sector and said gas was an important raw material in strong international demand.

Martins said Angola would use the gas for domestic needs first and might export some as well. That stated priority places local use ahead of possible sales abroad, although the company hasn’t published a development plan or timetable for supplying domestic customers. The test result alone doesn’t establish when production could begin.

Angola left OPEC on January 1, 2024, and produces about 1 million barrels of oil a day. The country’s oil and gas policy sits alongside an existing petroleum sector, while Katambi-2 remains at the testing stage. The announcement offers no reserve estimate or investment figure to assess the scale of a future project.

Fishing and the Atlantic Corridor

Sonangol said oil and gas work could coexist with fishing and ruled out negative effects on the fishing industry. Concerns about fish stocks along the Benguela coast have persisted since 2019, when Angola launched an international tender for offshore blocks. The company’s assurance and the reported concerns both shape debate around offshore activity; the article provides no further assessment of effects on fish stocks.

The Lobito rail corridor, backed by the United States and connected to the Atlantic through the port of Lobito, lies on the same coast. The Katambi-2 announcement doesn’t say whether the gas would connect to that corridor or any export route. No partners, infrastructure plan or export arrangement have been announced.