Exxon and TotalEnergies announce major oil discoveries in Angola, fast‑track production and $10 bn investment

ExxonMobil confirmed its 20th oil discovery in Angola's Block 15, at the Vicango Este-01 well, adding to a field where the prior 19 discoveries have already produced 2.7 billion of the roughly 3 billion barrels of recoverable resources. ExxonMobil operates Block 15 with a 36% interest, and the block's license now runs through 2037, though the field has already produced about 90% of its estimated recoverable resource, framing this as a low-cost extension of a mature asset rather than a new growth basin.

TotalEnergies separately disclosed a new discovery at Acacia-5 in Angola's Block 17, where it holds a 38% operated interest alongside Equinor, ExxonMobil (19%), Azule Energy and Sonangol E&P. The company also signed agreements for a 40% operated interest in two new exploration blocks, 17/25 and 32/21, with ExxonMobil holding the remaining 40% and Sonangol E&P 20%. TotalEnergies expects the Acacia-5 discovery to add about 6,000 barrels per day to Block 17 output, and targets first oil within three months of the June 2026 discovery, an accelerated timeline confirmed in the company's own announcement.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the company and its partners plan to invest $10 billion in Angola over the next five years, a commitment that spans its broader Angolan portfolio rather than only the newly entered blocks. TotalEnergies currently produces around 450,000 barrels per day in the country, roughly 45% of Angola's national crude output, as Angola works to hold overall production near 1 million barrels per day.

Together, the announcements point to renewed upstream activity in Angola from two of its largest operators, even as ExxonMobil's Block 15 approaches the tail end of its resource base and TotalEnergies leans on a fast-track playbook to bring new barrels online quickly. Investors could watch appraisal results on the new exploration blocks, execution against the three-month Acacia-5 timeline, and how the five-year, $10 billion spending plan interacts with Angola's broader push toward 1 million barrels per day of national output.