DRC and Angola Advance Shared Offshore Oil Project

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola have completed another major legal step toward jointly developing petroleum resources in a shared offshore zone.

Congolese Hydrocarbons Minister Acacia Bandubola Mbongo and Angola's Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, signed an addendum to the production-sharing contract for Block 14/23 in Luanda on July 22, 2026.

They also signed a joint declaration covering the implementation of the governance and management agreement for the Maritime Zone of Common Interest, known by its French and Portuguese abbreviation, ZIC.

The agreements complete administrative, financial and legal adjustments that officials say are necessary to move the project into its operational phase.

That is an important advance, but it does not mean offshore oil production has begun.

Neither government disclosed a first-production date, new investment value, expected output, cargo schedule or forecast of how much public revenue the project could generate.

What exactly did the DRC and Angola sign?

The addendum updates the production-sharing contract governing Block 14/23, the petroleum area linked to the joint maritime zone.

According to Angola's Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, experts from both countries met in Luanda on July 21 and 22 to review the legal instruments, governance arrangements and financial mechanisms required for shared petroleum operations.

The two governments also acknowledged that the ratification procedures for the governance agreement and its addendum had been completed.