Angola’s Etu Energias plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in 2026, its CEO said on Wednesday, weeks after finalizing a $400 million deal to buy the Angolan offshore holdings of Portugal’s Galp Energia.
CEO Edson dos Santos said the acquisition, completed in June, would allow Etu Energias, formerly Somoil, to double its production capacity to around 24,000 barrels per day (bdp).
“Our goal is to be a listed company by 2026. That is our goal,” CEO Edson dos Santos told Reuters.
“Initially we wanted to look at a dual listing between Angola and London. We have ruled out Johannesburg as the first, so it will probably be Angola first and then the London Stock Exchange,” he said.
The purchase of 5% in Block 32, 9% in Block 14 and 4.5% in Block 14K by Etu Energias is in line with a broader shift in which local energy companies have bought up areas from major companies including Shell, TotalEnergies, as they divest their assets in Nigeria and Angola, Africa’s largest and second-largest oil producers respectively.
The deal gives Etu Energias its first access to Angola’s deep waters, which are relatively unexplored but technically challenging.
Dos Santos said the company has also acquired onshore areas and plans to start exploratory drilling next year, aiming to reach a target of 50,000 bpd by 2030.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said on Tuesday he expected growth in oil demand and that market fundamentals did not justify a drop in oil prices, which are trading below $80 a barrel.
But Etu CEO Dos Santos said prices were favourable. “For a company that makes its decisions (and) plans its business based on $60 (a barrel), seeing oil at $80 is a huge positive impact for us,” he said.
2024-08-07 22:12:24