Angola will produce 2.1-2.2 million b/d of crude oil by 2016, predicts Moody’s Investors Service. In a credit analysis of the Angolan government, Moody’s cited deepwater projects due on stream soon in the Lower Congo basin and the government’s plans to offer deep and ultradeepwater blocks to international operators next year in the southern Kwanza basin and unexplored Namibe basin. The Kwanza basin, Moody’s points out, has presalt geology similar to that of Brazil’s Campos and Santos basins ( OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2011 ). Important to the imminent production gain is Total SA’s Kaombo project in 1,400-1,900 m of water in the Lower Congo basin. Total and its partners decided to proceed with the $16-billion development in April ( OGJ Online, Apr. 14, 2014 ). That decision, Moody’s said, boosts Angola’s production prospects. “First, it signals investors’ positive assessment of Angola’s long-term offshore prospects, […]