Geological heritage

Angola is made up of the Kwanza, Congo and Namibe sedimentary basins, but so far only the Congo and Kwanza basins have yielded oil in commercial quantities.

The southern coastal region of Angola remains unexplored after the failure of blocks 9, 21, 22 and 25 which are located offshore of southern Luanda. Drilling has also been unsuccessful off the coast of Namibia, Angola's southern neighbor, which has further discouraged exploration.

Engineers in Sonangol's geological department insist, however, that they want to begin a comprehensive survey of blocks in the Namibe basin, which they believe may yet produce surprises.

To date, it is clear that geology has favored blocks in the north of the country.

An example of success is Block Zero that lies off Cabinda and is situated just to the north of the Congo River. The proximity to the river is key. The concession's map shows that the biggest reserves fan out from the mouth of the river. It is thought that this is due to the deposit of large quantities of vegetable material which eventually became oil.

Hence the huge current interest in blocks beyond the range of existing discoveries.