Australian exploration and production company Red Sky Energy has made its first foray into Africa’s oil and gas market, acquiring a 35% stake in Block 6/24, offshore Angola. Speaking exclusively to Energy Capital & Power (www.EnergyCapitalPower.com), the company’s CEO Andrew Knox cited the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) conference as pivotal to making the deal happen. Knox participated in a panel discussion during AOG 2024 and the company’s Block 6/24 acquisition underscores the impact the event plays as a platform for engaging with the industry and securing deals. 

What specific factors made Angola an attractive destination for Red Sky Energy's first international venture? 

Red Sky Energy has been looking at certain opportunities [across the continent] for the last three years and found there are significant opportunities in Angola. The deal we signed represents our first foray into the African continent and is extremely exciting for us. Angola’s production is circa 1.1 million barrels a day and is a well-established market. We focus on proven resources or developed assets, and those with discovered resources that we can use our expertise to develop and bring to market. In Angola, we are seeing plenty of opportunity to do just this. There are a lot of smaller fields situated nearby established infrastructure.  

Currently, for our first entry, we were not looking to operate. We would like to get comfortable in the market and engage with all the players first. However, we are not married to the idea of non-operator. We will also look at operating positions in the future. There is a lot of oil in Angola, with good opportunities and a very supportive government. What the country has done in recent years - with changing their structuring, the establishment of the National Oil, Gas & Biofuels Agency and the improvement of the fiscal terms – is what has attracted us to the market.  

Please elaborate on the potential of Block 6/24, particularly the significance of the Cegonha oil discovery? 

We acquired this interest through direct negotiation with the government. Block 6/24 is located approximately 12km from Luanda and the refinery, which is very convenient for us. It also has an existing well and the Cegonha oil discovery, making it the perfect opportunity for first-entry into the country. The crude is heavy, with an API of roughly 20. However, there is production of that sort of crude in nearby fields, so it won’t be a problem for us to produce, potentially sign an offtake agreement and get the crude to the Luanda refinery.  

How do you envision the partnership with Sonangol and ACREP contributing to the development of Block 6/24?  

We have partnered with Sonangol, the national oil company, as well as ACREP. We have a 35% stake, Sonangol will operate with 50% and ACREP with 15%. Firstly, Sonangol knows the market. They are on the ground in a big way, and so for us, there are no challenges associated with bringing a foreign operator to the country for the first time. Sonangol is well established and has good connections in country. Secondly, ACREP is also a national company. They are a smaller player but quite nimble and we are impressed with their solutions in terms of the way we develop the field.  

The agreement outlines extensive geological and geophysical studies over three years and a potential drilling decision in Year 4. What key milestones does Red Sky Energy hope to achieve in this timeline? 

We are looking at studies and possibly reprocessing existing seismic data. There is approximately 3,000 km² of seismic on the license and we will look to potentially reprocess that partially and assess how to develop the field. On the way forward: do we re-enter the existing well? Will we do a sidetrack or a new appraisal well? This is what we are currently analyzing. We are not waiting three years to drill the well; this is just the timeframe for when we need to make a decision to drill. Obviously, we are looking to see if we can bring that timeframe forward.  

Beyond Block 6/24, what are Red Sky Energy’s long-term ambitions in Angola? 

We are looking at a lot of opportunities in Angola. We hope to create a major profit center for the company in the country. But we are focusing on existing discoveries or those in production - we won’t be looking outright at exploration at this point in time.   

What role did Angola Oil & Gas 2024 play in facilitating the deal?  

Angola Oil & Gas was instrumental for us in so many ways. It was our first participation at the conference and we were able to meet everyone. Everyone from the industry attends the event and it was exceptionally helpful for us. We were very pleased with the way the conference went and we learnt a lot from it. It was very well set-up and well-run conference. In 2025, we will definitely be attending again. In summary we are pleased to now be involved, we are looking at other opportunities and it is a wonderful place to do business in the oil and gas space. We will certainly be pursuing other prospects in Angola – watch this space.