Angola’s national oil company, Sonangol, has refused to renew an oil-production licence to France’s Total oil group for offshore fields located in the north of the country, a company spokesperson said on Friday.
”The licences for several oil companies have not been renewed, including Total’s,” said Joao Rosa Santos, a spokesperson for Sonangol.
Total, which produces 160 000 barrels per day (bpd) in Angola, was told on October 20 that its licence will not be renewed, the Jornal de Angola reported.
The decision came amid repeated threats by the Angolan government to scrap the licence to protest France’s decision to seek the arrest of arms dealer Pierre Falcone.
Falcone, who also holds Brazilian nationality, is suspected of playing a pivotal role in selling arms to Angola in 1993/94 during the Southern African country’s 27-year civil war.
Angola is sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest oil producer after Nigeria, producing more than one million bpd of oil, which make up 90% of the country’s total exports. — Sapa-AFP