Angola came out of the ruins of a 30-year civil war that ended in 2002, then entered into a crucial peace treaty in 2006 with FECL, the deadly militia group in Cabinda, where most of Angola’s oil deposits are located. Angola, a Sub-Saharan, OPEC Member nation has progressively leapfrogged into stardom as a major petrol-nation in Africa.

Profound thanks to the robust and sound leadership of the government of Angola that provided an enabling environment which encouraged and stimulated growth within the hydrocarbon sector without a rash of bureaucratic encumbrances and distractive politics.

The effective policies of the ministry of petroleum and the unswerving commitment of Sonangol, the national oil company of Angola have really aided the growth of Angola as an African oil producing nation.

Industry analysts have marveled over the sporadic development of Angolan’s oil sector.

Daily production increased from the January OPEC 2007 figure of 1.6 MBD to the present-day 2.0 MBD.  According to OPEC’s 2009 record, Angola’s daily production is 2 billion barrels and is vigorously competing with Nigeria which for many years remained Africa’s highest producer of crude oil.  At the peak of the Niger Delta imbroglio in Nigeria in June 2009, Angola exceeded Nigeria’s production capacity to be Africa’s “numero uno” producer.

Now, the context for who will emerge as Africa’s number one producer is a race open between Nigeria and Angola. If the cataclysm and destruction of oil facilities in Niger Delta by various militants groups continue the way it is going, it is expected that Nigeria’s production in the first quarter of 2011 will drop by at least 300,000 barrels per day. The upcoming presidential election in Nigeria penciled for April 2011 might trigger more uproar in the oil patch which will definitely affect production and also a possible set back by the uncertainties of the yet to be enacted Petroleum Industry Bill. In another significant count in 2010, Angola has exceeded Nigeria in deep water development and capital investment in the oil sector.

Angola’s energy industry has demonstrated growth on such a large that scale that it has now begun involvement into international expansion. In 2009, the Angola national oil company –Sonangol-- bid and won an oil block in Iraq. The government of Sao Tome & Principe has engaged Angola to assist them in developing their oil sector. Both counties have similar cultural heritages and were once colonies of Portugal until 1976 when Angola gained its independence and STP became a sovereign nation in 2000.  Sonangol has also partnered with the Chinese Oil Company to carry out major international operations in Brazil.

Oil exploration began in Angola in 1955 and actual production commenced in 1968 after an offshore discovery in Cabinda in 1965. Oil provides about 85% of the Angola government’s revenue. An estimated proven reserve of crude oil in Angola is within the range of 10 – 13 billion barrels.  China, as a “big-appetite” energy consumer, gets about 42% of its oil import from Angola. In February 2006, Angola surpassed South Africa as China’s main source of crude oil supply by shipping 2.12 million tons against Saudi Arabia’s estimated 1.98 million tons. The United States of America, the highest energy consumption country in the world, gets about 32% of her energy needs from Africa. Angola has remained the second largest supplier of America’s crude oil need from the African region.

While Angola’s international expansion is being been lauded, making Sonangol to be a huge success story among African national oil companies, analysts are saying that this commodity-rich nation should tread  with caution in her zeal to venture into international operations. One reason for this being that most of Angola’s operations depend on foreign oil companies, and there is still a paucity of human capital accompanied by a lack of availability of large financial resources.  The young and growing Angola oil industry might not be able to cushion too much risk and stave off sudden financial tornadoes that could suddenly hit the oil sector without warning and prove to be disastrous.

Above all, Angola has demonstrated that Africa national oil companies are coming of age and can hold their forte in the industry like Petrobras and Petronas. The growth in

Angola’s oil sector is also a vivid testimony that its local content policy is working pretty well and this trend has shown that other struggling national oil companies in Africa and their various governments have a good leaf to borrow from Angola which has become a jewel in the continent.

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