In 2021, Angola exported approximately 394.22 million barrels of crude oil and attained an annual gross revenue of $27.87 billion for the same year, representing a 51.4 % increase against figures from the previous year, despite the country’s total volume of exports being 11.69 % lower.
The Republic of Angola’s Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, H.E. José Barroso, speaking in Luanda on February 17, 2022, noted that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global oil industry, compounded by decisions made by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to reduce oil prices, had a serious impact on the price of Brent – the benchmark for Angolan exports – during that period.
Citing reforms in state-owned companies under H.E. President João Lourenço’s administration, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lauded the Republic of Angola’s improved governance scores, projecting that the country’s economy will grow by an estimated 4% in the medium term.
“Bolstered by the implementation of planned growth-enhancing structural reforms,” the IMF noted in a statement in December 2021, that Angola’s commitment to its oil industry has the potential to spur economic growth, adding that, “continued fiscal restraint should deliver a substantial overall surplus in 2021, while higher oil prices are supporting a high current account surplus.”
Angola’s national oil company, Sonangol, and the country’s exclusive concessionaire for oil and gas exploration and production, the National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), sold approximately 40 million barrels of oil in the fourth quarter of 2021 – of which 24.59% was exported by the ANPG and 15.79% by Sonangol – achieving gross revenues of approximately $3 billion. The primary destination for Angolan oil in October, November and December 2021 was China, receiving 61.57% of total exports, while India received the second most with 11.87%. Other destinations for exports included Thailand (4.9%), Gibraltar (2.52%), Italy (2.4%), Spain (2.4%), Canada (2.4%), and South Africa (2.4%).
