TotalEnergies, a mainstay of the global energy industry with operations around the world, recently brought two new offshore production developments online in Angola, increasing the French company’s output capacity in the growing African market this year. As Begonia and Clov Phase 3 enter service in Angola, the African nation has become the latest on the continent to strengthen energy security amid the ever-volatile and uncertain energy market.
Africa’s energy industry: A new opportunity or an aging market on the verge of death?
Africa’s energy industry has faced a litany of problems over the years. From the significant lack of investments to upgrade aging infrastructure to the never-ending corruption by authorities, the African energy market has not had an easy life, to say the least.
However, in recent times, several African nations have been working diligently with domestic operators and international investors to increase the continent’s output capacity and reduce reliance on imports of essential energy resources.
To that end, Angola has seen TotalEnergies bring the Begonia online, and the Clov Phase 3 produce first oil recently. Total is making use of ullage in the PAZFLOR and CLOV FPSO (floating production, storage, and offloading units) to add approximately 60,000 barrels a day of new oil production to Angola’s market.
Angola’s remarkable turnaround has resulted in a new era of domestic oil production
Angola is not a rich country by any measure, but has the natural resources off the country’s coastline to develop an energy industry that can meet the expectations of the local demand while serving the substantial needs of the international market as well. Total has praised the development of the two projects and reaffirmed its commitment to transforming the African energy market.
Nicolas Terraz, President Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies, had this to say:
“TotalEnergies, operator of Block 17 and 17/06, continues to actively deliver its low-cost and low-emissions developments to grow its upstream production by more than 3% in 2025. With BEGONIA and CLOV Phase 3, we are leveraging available production capacity in existing FPSOs of Block 17 (PAZFLOR and CLOV) while reducing costs and emissions.”
Begonia: the latest offshore project in Angola that will boost output capacity
Located approximately 93 miles off the coast of Angola, the Begonia project will add roughly 30,000 barrels p/d through five wells subsea tied back to the PAZFLOR FPSO. It is also Angola’s first inter-block development and is being developed by TotalEnergies, which holds an operator stake of 30%, alongside the partners, which include:
- Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG)
- Sonangol E&P
- SSI
- ETU Energias
- Falcon Oil
Clov 3 has reached a critical milestone recently off the coast of Angola
As several new developments in Africa prepare to light the path forward in 2026, the CLov 3 development reached its first oil production recently, providing a much-needed boost to Angola’s output capacity. Located roughly 80 miles from the nation’s coast, the 30,000 barrels per day development recently began delivering oil to the Angolan market for the first time.
According to Paulino Jerónimo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Agency for Petroleum, Gas, and Biofuels:
“Good news for the country, as those two First Oils will help Angola maintain its production levels above 1 million baril per day. BEGONIA is the first project between Blocks in Angola with a significant component of Local Content and CLOV 3 is a great achievement resulting from intense work between the concessionaire and the B17 contractor group, operated by TotalEnergies. Projects like these are extremely important as they prove the innovative spirit and dynamism of the oil sector in Angola.”
Can Africa lead the revival of its energy market in 2026?
With the recent developments in Angola providing the nation with the necessary expansion of its upstream market, other strategic projects in Africa point to a broader plan to boost the continent’s output capacity of essential energy resources this year. For far too long, Africa has been operating in the shadows of the international energy industry, no more, says Angola.
