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Angola’s Sonangol Plans Share Sale for 30% of Business in Broad Shakeup

Angola’s Sonangol Plans Share Sale for 30% of Business in Broad Shakeup

(Bloomberg) --

Angola’s state oil company Sonangol EP will step up its transformation with the sale of 30% of the business by 2027 and the further disposal of non-core assets.

The partial sale of Sonangol will take “some time” and follow a financial review, Chairman Gaspar Martins told reporters Thursday in the capital, Luanda.

The restructuring is part of President Joao Lourenco’s plans to change the face of Angola’s oil industry, which the government relies on for about three-quarters of its revenue and more than 90% of exports. Production of crude has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade and new projects are required to halt the decline.

Sonangol is expected to sell stakes in more than 72 non-core ventures and to transform into an operator rather than being a passive partner. The company is currently preparing a public sale of 11 assets in April, Martins said.

The company aims to produce 10% of Angola’s overall production from the fields it operates and achieve a production cost of $15 dollars a barrel, Martins said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Candido Mendes in Luanda at cmendes6@bloomberg.net;Paul Burkhardt in Johannesburg at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Hilton Shone, Helen Nyambura

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