universo - sonangol.co.aoªs/documents/su44_fv.pdf · universo is produced by impact media custom...

SON

AN

GO

L UN

IVER

SO

INSIDE: oil and gas news

Universo

Building a better Angolan future

CHEVRON ANGOLA:Surging ahead

NATIONAL SHOW TIME:

Fenacult 2014 success

POOLING RESOURCES:

Stena Sonangol

www.universo-magazine.com

DECEMBER 2014

ISSU

E 44

– DEC

EMBER

20

14

Sonangol’s American mission control

Houston, Texas, the North American hub of Sonangol’s global operations, is the focus of our December issue. Here, Universo visited Sonangol USA’s HQ, which deals with oil marketing and trading, and,

in the same office suite, Stena Sonangol Suezmax Pool, which oversees shipping operations. Nearby, we dropped in at the office of WAMS, the body allocating and looking after Sonangol scholars in North America. A fourth stopping point was Chevron’s Africa department in Houston’s downtown, where we got an update on the impressive engineering feat of the Congo River Crossing Pipeline and other major Chevron projects in Angola.

The lasting, uplifting impressions of Angola’s presence in Houston’s oil sector were, firstly, the rapid career ascension and progress of young Angolans, especially in the areas of shipping and trading, and secondly, the massive rise in the numbers of Sonangol scholars through the WAMS system, a figure that recently more than doubled to 500.

Even if one does not consider Houston ‘the oil capital of the world’ as one interviewee claimed, then it is certainly a great place to see how Sonangol is expanding and how well young Angolans are progressing professionally in the industry.

John KolodziejskiEditor

2 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Shu

tter

sto

ck

OVERVIEW

Universo is the international magazine of Sonangol

President

Francisco de Lemos José Maria

Executive administrators:

Anabela Soares de Brito da Fonseca, Ana Joaquina Van-Dúnem Alves da Costa,

Fernandes Gaspar Bernardo Mateus, Fernando Joaquim Roberto,

Mateus Sebastião Francisco Neto, Paulino Fernando Carvalho Jerónimo

Non-executive administrators:

Albina Assis Africano, José Gime, André Lelo, José Paiva

Sonangol Department for Communication & Image Director

Mateus Cristóvão Benza

Corporate Communications Assistants

Nadiejda Santos, Paula Almeida, Hélder Sirgado, Kimesso Kissoka

Publisher: Sheila O’Callaghan

Editor: John Kolodziejski

Managing Editor: Mauro Perillo

Art Director: Tony Hill

Sub Editor: Brian MacReamoinn

Proofreading: Gail Nelson-Bonebrake

Circulation Manager: Matthew Alexander

Production Assistant: Sebnem Brown

Project Consultant: Nathalie MacCarthy

Group President: John Charles Gasser

Universo is produced by Impact Media Custom Publishing. The views expressed in the publication are not necessarily

those of Sonangol or the publishers. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior permission is prohibited.

This magazine is distributed to a closed circulation. To receive a free copy:

[email protected]

Circulation: 15,000

Davenport House, 16 Pepper Street, London E14 9RP United Kingdom

Tel + 44 20 7510 9595 | Fax +44 20 7510 [email protected]

www.sonangol.co.ao [email protected]

Front cover: Paenal

Houston, home to Sonangol USA and Chevron

Shu

tter

sto

ck

DECEMBER 2014 3

Bra

zuk

8

Sten

a

Contents

20

28

Jose

Fra

de

44

36

4 ANGOLA NEWS BRIEFING

A roundup of national and international news concerning Angola

7 FIGURED OUT

A brief glance at Angola in numbers

8 CHEVRON TAMES THE CONGO

An update on the colossal projects of the US oil giant in Angola

16 SONANGOL NEWS BRIEFING

Highlights of noteworthy news items from Sonangol EP and

its subsidiaries

20 SONANGOL USA: NEW ERA, NEW CLIENTS

Sonangol’s quest for new markets in the Americas as the United

States becomes more self-sufficient in oil and gas

28 STENA SONANGOL: POOLING RESOURCES

An update on Sonangol’s successful joint venture in shipping

36 WAMS: SUPPORTING STUDENTS

How Sonangol’s scholarship support company is multiplying

opportunities in North America for Angolan students

40 ASSET INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT: AIMING HIGH

The steps Sonangol is taking to manage some of its aging

production assets

44 NATIONAL SHOW TIME

The highlights of Angola’s national cultural festival, Fenacult 2014

Bra

zuk

Ltd

Sten

a

Angola news briefing

4 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

African art shines at London fair■ Photographic work by Angola’s Venice Biennale 2013 winner, Edson Chagas, was on display at a London fair dedicated to African art held in October. The event, titled 1:54, represented the 54 countries which make up the African continent. Pieces by more than 100 artists were on show in 27 galleries at Somerset House on the banks of the River Thames in central London.

The fair was sponsored by the Sindika Dokolo Foundation as part of its efforts to stimulate and promote contemporary African art. The foundation holds 5,000 works of African

art and aims to put together the best collection possible.

“Not the most expensive, nor the largest in volume, but that which stimulates and enriches the best African artistic scene,” Sindika Dokolo said.

The foundation is dedicated to collecting, preserving, safeguarding and diffusing artistic production, especially in Angola. It launched the first African Triennial and is behind the Third Luanda Triennial scheduled for 2015. The foundation is also believed to be backing an initiative to create a contemporary art centre in the Angolan capital.

Indonesia co-operation deal■ Angolan Vice President, Manuel Vicente conveyed President José Eduardo dos Santos’ congratulations to Indonesia’s newly elected President Joko Widodo during a four-day visit to Jakarta at the end of October. Vicente, on behalf of President dos Santos, also expressed Angola’s readiness to reinforce co-operation between the two countries and thanked Indonesia for its support in the recent bid for a UN Security Council non-permanent seat.

Angola is Indonesia’s third-largest African trading partner, after Nigeria and South Africa. Vice President Vicente witnessed the signing of a framework co-operation accord intended to boost oil and gas trade between the two countries. The deal also covers the energy and service sectors. Indonesia produces about 800,000 barrels of oil per day, while demand is five times greater.

Jakarta

Somerset House

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Shu

tter

sto

ck

■ The Angolan government is to receive $250 million in support from the United Nations for social sector projects. Angola’s Minister for Planning and Territorial Development Job Graça signed the agreement with UN Co-ordinator for Systems Dr Hernando Agudelo, on November 5.

The funds will be used in the areas of sustainability, social and economic development for the period 2015–19 in line with priorities identified in Angola’s National Development Plan (2013–17), explained Minister Graça.

The support will allow greater UN co-operation in planning and implementing specific projects in areas such as education, health and social care.

The Ministry of Planning and Territorial Development is responsible for drawing up and implementing Angola’s public investment programmes.


DECEMBER 2014 5

■ Angolan inventors won 10 medals, including two gold, five silver and three bronze, at the 66th International Trade Fair – Ideas, Inventions and New Products (iENA).

The gold medals went to the Medicines and Toxicology Information Centre (Cimetox) at the Faculty of Medicine of Lueji A’Nkonde University for the production of the first antiophidic serum and computer systems firm Sistec for its electronic voting station.

The Angolan entrants were competing with more than 700 exhibitors representing 32 countries from every continent. The fair took place in Nuremberg, Germany from October 30 to November 2.

Inventors strike gold

International golf tees off

IMF sees 5.9% growth in 2015■ Angola’s economy is expected to grow 3.9 per cent this year and 5.9 per cent in 2015, according to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook.

In a separate announcement, Angola’s central bank, Banco Nacional de Angola, has predicted the country’s economy will grow at an annual average of 5 per cent over the next four years, driven by the growing participation of the private sector.

Angola in $250 million UN funding deal

■ Angola plans to host an international open golf tournament in February 2016, under the umbrella of the professional association for the sport in Europe, Youth and Sports Minister Gonçalves Muandumba announced in October.

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Shu

tter

sto

ck


Angolan handball champions again

■ Angola has taken over the presidency of the Ministers of Finance of Southern and East Africa regional group for the 2014–15 period. In the move, Minister for Finance Armando Manuel replaced his Namibian counterpart Saara Kuugongelwa in the post.

At the opening meeting of the organisation’s Council of Ministers, which represents 17 member states, Manuel said Angola would continue developing and improving measures to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism. He also congratulated Uganda on adopting money laundering laws in October 2013 and for beginning the implementation of these laws through the establishment of a financial intelligence unit.

The presidency of Angola will seek to encourage member countries to develop legal mechanisms and structures to comply with the resolutions of the UN Security Council on preventing, suppressing and stopping the proliferation of weapons and their funding, he said.

Finance minister takes charge

■ Angola’s Primeiro de Agosto female handball team won the African club championship in Tunisia in October with a narrow 27–25 win over its national rivals Petro de Luanda, the champions in 2013.

In a remarkable show of the strength of women’s handball in the country, Angola’s Progresso de Sambizanga also took the bronze medal in the pan-African competition with a 28–25 victory over Étoile du Congo.

Fans turned out in force to welcome home the new African champions at Luanda’s International Airport and on the streets of the city.

Minister Armando Manuel

6 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

An

go

p


Angola in numbers

amount BP Angola will invest in next 10 years$15 billion

FIGURED OUT

investment in Chevron’s Mafumeira Sul project

$5.6 billion 24.4 millionlatest Angolan population (2014 census)

5.9 per cent 117 metresestuary depth where Congo River Crossing is located

IMF forecast of Angola’s GDP growth in 2015

Population now over 24 million

■ Preliminary results of Angola’s 2014 census show that the population now stands at 24.4 million, of which a little over half is female. Furthermore, the metropolis of Luanda now houses 27 per cent of Angolans, with only 38 per cent living in rural areas.

Just seven provinces account for almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of the entire population: Luanda, Huíla, Benguela, Huambo, Kwanza Sul, Bié and Uíge.

The nationwide count, the first since 1970, was carried out in May.

■ Angola was elected a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for two years (2015–16) on October 16.

Foreign Affairs Minister Georges Chikoti said Angolans were proud that their country had received the backing of other member states for the position. He promised that Angola would strive to make the UN Security Council more efficient and balanced.

Minister Chikoti stated that, in the area of peace and security, Angola will be promoting dialogue

among nations as an essential element for a culture of peace, respect for difference and conflict prevention.

“Angola will also contribute to a more efficient identification of the causes of conflict and to the reduction of violence through preventive diplomacy, promoting the African agenda and contributing to peace and security in Africa and the world,” he explained.

Angola elected to

UN Security Council

DECEMBER 2014 7

Georges Chikoti

Un

ited

Nat

ion

s

Shu

tter

sto

ck

CHEVRONTAMESTHE CONGO

8 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

OIL MAJOR

As well as having a long, proud oil production record in Angola, Chevron is currently also at the leading edge in developing landmark projects. Universo checks up on their progress TAMES

DECEMBER 2014 9

Chevron HQ in downtown Houston

Bra

zuk

Ltd

Of Chevron’s three large-scale projects currently under way in Angola, perhaps the most dramatic is the pipeline

crossing beneath the wide estuary of the mighty River Congo. The Congo River Crossing (CRX1) project involves simultaneously drilling vertically from platforms on both sides of Africa’s deepest, most powerful river to a depth of 610 metres, then drilling horizontally to join the pipelines at a mid-way point under the river bed. The 140km pipeline conduit has a diameter of 20-22 inches and it will contain the gas pipeline, thus protecting it from the river’s strong currents.

“Everything is going well in this amazing project,” Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production, told Universo. “The drilling across is a very complicated part of the procedure.”

According to Moshiri, the CRX1 drilling operations on the pipeline well intersection should start in mid-December and the whole pipeline should be finished by the third quarter of 2015, but he said there were already plans to build a second crossing following completion of CRX1.

The CRX1 is a component part of a much wider project aimed at supplying natural gas to Angola’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at Soyo in Zaire province, located on the southern shore of the Congo estuary. The pipeline crossings will provide increased capacity to supply associated gas from Chevron-operated Blocks 0 and 14 to the Angola LNG (ALNG) plant and thus drastically reduce flaring. The well-being of personnel working on the project is clearly vital: Moshiri stressed that safety is Chevron’s “number one priority”.

Angola LNG updateThe $10 billion ALNG plant started up in 2013 but has since then experienced operational difficulties. There have been design and engineering problems in the gas processing unit, but the LNG section has been run successfully, Moshiri explained. The plant will only start full production again once the issues identified have been dealt with. “We need to get it right and do it safely,” he emphasized.

Angola LNG aims to produce 5.2 million metric tonnes per year of LNG and up to 63,000 barrels per day (bpd) of natural gas liquids.

ALNG was formed as a joint project in 2008 involving Sonangol (22.8 per cent); Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC), a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (36.4 per cent); BP (13.6 per cent); Eni (13.6 per cent) and Total (13.6 per cent). The stakeholders will provide associated gas from their respective offshore oil fields.

Ali Moshiri said he is very proud of ALNG which is the first plant of its kind to be fed only from associated oil and gas fields alone, rather than just gas fields. In other words, the plant makes use of the natural gas by-product of oil production. A huge system of pipelines channels the gas towards the LNG plant. The idea behind ALNG is to monetise the associated gas while reducing carbon emissions.

Once the Congo River Crossing is complete, ALNG will absorb gas from a network of pipelines spread over a large area of the seabed and shore. One of the plant’s main challenges and innovations is the processing of all this natural gas that arrives at different pressures.

Mafumeira Sul on trackThe second of Chevron’s three major projects underway is at Mafumeira Sul.

OIL MAJOR

“Safety is Chevron’s number one

priority” – Ali Moshiri,

president of

Chevron Africa

and Latin America

Exploration and

Production10 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

Shu

tter

sto

ck /

Bra

zuk

OIL MAJOR

DECEMBER 2014 11

117 metres

estuary depth where crossing is

located

230 metres

maximum depth of world’s deepest

river

41,000 cubic metres per second

flow rate at estuary

14,500km

length of Congo’snavigable shipping

routes

140km

length of pipeline under River

Congo

610 metres

vertical depth of drilling before pipeline

laying

4,700km

length (second-longest river in Africa

after Nile)

River Congo data

Satellite image of the River Congo

Co

rbis

12 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

The $5.6 billion integrated offshore project consists of a central oil and gas processing unit and an accommodation platform. There will also be two wellhead platforms, 121km of subsea pipelines, 34 producing wells and 16 water injection wells. Mafumeira Sul is designed to produce 150,000 bpd of oil and 350 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. Chevron is taking advantage of the weather window stretching from November 2014 through the first quarter of 2015 to place mobile equipment at the site.

According to Moshiri, there is much

activity around the project at the moment, with 1,000 workers on-site.

Platform construction began in the third quarter of 2013 and pipeline construction at the end of 2013.

Lianzi field firstsThe third of Chevron’s eye-catching new ventures boasts a number of ‘firsts’. It is the first joint project with another West African country: Angola’s neighbour, the Republic of the Congo. In fact, it is the first cross-border oil development anywhere in West Africa.

The two countries will be co-operating in oil production in the Angola-Republic of the Congo Joint Development Area.

“As the first cross-border development in the region, Lianzi represents a unique co-operative approach to shared offshore resources and may serve as a model for the development of similar cross-border fields between the two countries,” said Ali Moshiri.

Chevron’s overall interest in the Lianzi Unitization Zone is 31.25 per cent. Total controls 36.75 per cent and other shares are held by Eni (10 per cent), Sonangol P&P (10 per cent), SNPC (7.5 per cent), and Galp (4.5 per cent).

The Lianzi field is located 105km off the Angolan coast in a water depth of approximately 900 metres and will have a subsea production system with a 43km-long electrically heated flowline to obviate blockages, as hydrates can congeal at low temperatures. This will be the first use of this groundbreaking technology at this water depth. The pipeline will transport oil to the Benguela-Belize-Lobito-Tomboco (BBLT) platform in Block 14. Lianzi has a design capacity of 46,000 bpd of oil.

Block 0 Sonangol, Total, Eni

Block 14 Sonangol, Total, Eni, Galp Energia, Inpex

Mafumeira Sonangol, Total, Eni

Lianzi Sonangol, Total, Eni, Galp, SNPC

Chevron partners in Angola

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000 13000 14000 15000 16000 17000

Distance (Ft.)

South Well North Well

Dep

th (F

t.)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Congo River Crossing

OIL MAJOR

DECEMBER 2014 13

There are lots of Angolans making successful careers in Chevron,

and they also have options outside Angola

Chevron uses local expertise

OIL MAJOR

Shu

tter

sto

ck


“Everything is going well in

this amazing project” – Ali Moshiri

Drilling has already begun and first oil is slated for late 2015. There will be four producing wells, three water injection wells and subsea tiebacks to an existing platform in Block 14.

Apart from CRX1, Mafumeira Sul and Lianzi, Chevron is also very busy elsewhere in its Block 0 and Block 14 holdings, said Ali Moshiri. “The main priority is to focus on economically increasing production in Angola. We also need to do this to keep Angola LNG full – it needs maximum capacity,” he explained.

Angolans in Chevron...As far as personnel are concerned,

Moshiri said the Angolanisation rate at Chevron was now around the 89–90 per cent level. The company is the largest international investor-owned energy company employer in Angola, with more than 3,400 Angolan employees.

“There are lots of Angolans making successful careers in Chevron, and they also have options outside Angola. Eunice Carvalho, country manager in Brazil, is an Angolan,” he pointed out.

He also said ALNG was offering many training opportunities. “We’re an international company, and we like to move experience around our operations. That means using our knowledge of LNG.

There is already a significant Angolan workforce there”, he noted.

Chevron in Angola...Chevron’s subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) drilled its first well in Angola in 1958 and made its first offshore discovery in 1966 in Block 0. This block is still in service today and has so far yielded more than 4 billion barrels.

Most of Chevron’s drilling operations are off Cabinda province in Blocks 0 and Block 14 further west. The company also has a production share in offshore Block 2 and onshore in the Fina Sonangol Texaco (FST) concession area. p

Ali Moshiri and his Angolan giraffe sculptures

Atlantic Ocean

Republic of the Congo

Angola(Cabinda)

Block 0

DRC

Angola

Block 14

Nemba

Congo RiverCrossing Pipeline

AngolaLNG

OIL MAJOR

Bra

zuk

Ltd

DECEMBER 2014 15

1930s starts Angola business selling Texaco products

drills first oil in Angola1958

2013 Angola LNG starts up

1999begins Kuito, first deepwater production

Chevron’s proud record in Angola

Benguela-Belize-Lobito-Tomboco project surpasses 250 million barrels

2013

makes first offshore discovery 1966

OIL MAJOR

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Sonangol news briefing


■ In Luanda there is evidence of growth at every turn. Newly built skyscrapers are accommodating shops and businesses, including those from the international oil and gas industry. However, beyond the city limits dramatic changes are also taking place. Four hours from the metropolis, the fast-developing Paenal shipyard at Porto Amboim is not only making history for its pioneering work on FPSOs (floating production, storage and offloading vessels), but is also investing in the local community.

Paenal is a joint venture between Sonangol and international players SBM Offshore and DSME. The company’s concern for, and awareness of the needs of the local community are an integral part of its presence in the region. So when it was brought to the attention of management that the local school was in disrepair and potentially

unsafe for children, Paenal immediately reacted and committed to building a brand-new one.

Rallying support from a number of partner companies, Paenal has built a school that will accommodate 350 local children. Additional resources provided include a computer room for Information Technology classes and a school library. The school will ensure that the children obtain the appropriate skills required for their futures. Coinciding with celebrations for Angola’s National Day the school was officially inaugurated by Vice-Governor of Kwanza Sul, Dr Maria de Lourdes Veiga, on November 17.

As the town of Porto Amboim continues to prosper, more families will arrive in the area and the need for better equipped schools is likely to increase. Paenal plans to fund other schools in the future as part of its dedicated

corporate social responsibility strategy.In Lubango, another project

completed in December 2011 has provided a home for up to 120 orphans. The orphanage has had a hugely positive impact on the lives of the girls there, who range from toddlers to young adults, according to Sister Bernadete Ngueve, who relies on the financial support of OPS (a joint venture between Sonangol and SBM) to run it.

SBM Offshore Angola financed construction of the purpose-built facility, which took place in Huíla province on land donated by the Archdiocese of Lubango. The girls gain an education at the on-site school, and there are plans to expand the building to allow 500 children from neighbouring villages to attend. Paenal also intends to provide IT and English language training at the school.

Sonangol and SBM set up schools

Paenal (sponsor)

Heerema (library)

Chevron (prefab building with part-funding by Paenal)

Conduril (civil works)

PIC (furniture for teaching rooms)

Sodexo (computer room, computers, desks)

SPIE (desks, chairs, blackboards)

CG Africa (football and basketball court)

Movex (building construction)

Sonnel (one year’s maintenance and cleaning)

Porto Amboim school – participating companies:

Yuri Cazanga, the assistant engineer who project-managed the construction of the orphanage

Paen

al

■ Sonangol board president, Francisco de Lemos José Maria, and Italy’s Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi signed a strategic oil and gas agreement on November 17.

As part of the pact, the two companies will jointly study the potential of non-associated gas in Angola’s Lower Congo Basin. The idea is to analyse the best options for obtaining value for the gas both at home and abroad. The Sonangol-Eni partnership will benefit from Eni’s proprietary expertise and experience in developing gas resources.

“This agreement will strengthen the prolific cooperation between Eni and Sonangol, confirming Angola as one of the key countries for the company’s organic growth strategy”, Descalzi said. “In the coming years, Angola will become one of the most important oil and gas hubs for Eni’s sub-Saharan activities”.

Eni has been in Angola since 1980 and currently has an equity production of approximately 80,000 barrels of oil per day. It is also the operator in the upcoming start-up of the deep water Block 15/06 West Hub project, which is due to commence by the end of 2014.


DECEMBER 2014 17

International report sees rise in Angolan oil■ Angola is set to replace Nigeria, albeit only temporarily, as Africa’s leading oil producer, according to an International Energy Agency report in October.

The IEA forecast Angola will overtake Nigeria from around 2016, but Nigeria may bounce back in the mid-2020s. The change in positions is partly the result of an expected increase in production in Angola, but is mainly due to domestic issues in Nigeria.

The report estimated that Nigeria currently loses 150,000 barrels per day to oil theft, the equivalent of $5 billion per year, which has led investors to postpone decisions.

New oil discovery■ Sonangol partner, the Italian firm Eni reported a new oil discovery off the coast of Angola in September. Eni estimated the new deepwater discovery in Block 15/06 contained 300 million barrels of oil. State-controlled Eni is the biggest foreign oil and gas producer in Africa and, under its new CEO Claudio Descalzi, is focusing its business on exploration.

“This new find exemplifies the results we can achieve by applying leading-edge technologies to exploration, and substantiates the decision to refocus Eni on key oil and gas competences,” Descalzi said.

Eni is the operator of Block 15/06, with a 35 per cent stake. Sonangol P&P holds 30 per cent, SSI Fifteen Limited has 25 per cent, and Falcon Oil Holding Angola SA and Statoil Angola have 5 per cent each.

Strategic deal between Sonangol and Eni

Claudio Descalzi and Francisco de Lemos José Maria (right)

Shu

tter

sto

ck



■ Indonesia’s state energy firm Pertamina is to import crude oil from Angola, the country’s energy minister Sudirman Said announced in late October. Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy and has growing demand for energy.

“The government-to-government discussions have concluded. It will be a business-to-business [deal]. The agreement today will still be high level - at a global level,” the minister explained.

Minister Said did not reveal how much crude would be involved in the deal but, in return for the imports, Sonangol is expected to invest in a refinery in Indonesia.

New crude deal with Pertamina

Sonangol stands out at Rio Expo■ Sonangol pulled out all the stops with its eye-catching stand at Rio Oil & Gas 2014 Expo and Conference, one of the largest oil industry events in the world, in September. Over 47,000 people attended the site at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro city in the event’s 17th edition. The theme of the Expo and Conference was ‘The New Geopolitical Scenario: Overcoming the Challenges’.

The futuristic Sonangol stand was designed to have an impact. Its dynamic sinuous lines and two floors linked by a sweeping staircase, together with its strong colours gave it a strong Angolan and modern identity. The stand also emphasised the company’s commitment to technological innovation and respect for the environment.

During the expo, 828 meetings were held with 176 suppliers and 37 anchor companies. A total of 652 technical papers were also presented in oral and poster sessions. The conference registered an attendance of some 3,800 delegates from 31 countries.

In the exhibition, visitors could learn about the main innovations of the sector in the booths of more than 1,000 participating companies. Of these exhibitors, 72 were debuting at the event. The fair also boasted 14 international pavilions, two of them taking part for the first time: Singapore and Poland.

Sonangol’s sleek stand at Riocentro

Girassol on the road to excellence■ Sonangol healthcare subsidiary Clínica Girassol held its second congress ‘Girassol 2014’, at Luanda’s Talatona Convention Centre in October. The theme of the event was ‘Healthcare towards Excellence, Technology and Humanisation’.

The aim of Girassol 2014 was to offer a panorama of the best knowledge available in healthcare and also to provide a space for discussion between health professionals in Angola and those from the countries invited. The focus was on the use of new technologies in clinical practice.

Around 2,000 delegates took part in the congress, which covered cardiology, infertility, mother and child health and intensive care, medicine, video surgery, oncology and infirmaries among other topics.

The first Clínica Girassol gathering was held in 2012.


DECEMBER 2014 19

■ Abel Claudino Cruz, a Sonangol Pesquisa e Producão drilling completions engineer, has won the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ (SPE) African Regional Service award. It was presented at a special event organised by the Angola section of the SPE in August.

The SPE is a not-for-profit professional organisation founded in the USA in 1957 whose mission is to disseminate and exchange technical knowledge on the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources and related technologies for the public benefit and to provide opportunities for individuals to advance their technical and professional competence.

The society has sections in all of the Africa countries where oil production and exploration is taking place, including Nigeria, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Tunisia, Uganda and South

Africa. The SPE’s Africa region has about 4,000 members. The Angola section is extremely proud that Cruz was able to beat off strong competition to land this prestigious award.

Engineer Cruz was given the award in recognition of his role as a very active member of the board of directors of the Angola section for the past 10 years. He was also involved in organising two of the SPE’s advanced technology workshops, held recently in Luanda. “The award belongs not only to me but to all Angola’s SPE members. On receiving this SPE award I would like to thank Sonangol, in particular the executive commission of Sonangol P&P,” said Cruz. The SPE provides a global forum for oil and natural gas exploration and production, and a professional hub for more than 124,000 engineers, geoscientists,

chemists, economists, managers and educators. Its library contains more than 50,000 technical papers, while products of SPE conferences and periodicals are made available to the entire industry. These papers are now electronically archived.

The organisation’s head office is located in Dallas, Texas, and it also has offices in Houston, Calgary, London, Dubai, Moscow and Kuala Lumpur. Any oil industry professional worldwide can become a member.

Angola chapterThere are also university student chapters in many countries. The first such chapter in Angola was set up at Jean Piaget University and was officially inaugurated on October 31, 2014. Others are due to be formed next year at the Catholic University and at Agostinho Neto University. University student members have

access to the SPE’s technical papers and can attend the monthly meetings, which are held in the AAA Building on Avenida Lenine in Luanda.

The Angola section of the SPE first began to hold meetings on an informal basis at Cabinda Gulf Oil’s base in Malongo, Cabinda, in 1982. This branch was officially inaugurated in 1986, and monthly meetings have been held on a continuous basis since then. A volunteer board of directors is responsible for the activities of the SPE in Angola. Over the years, many distinguished Angolan engineers have graced the board, including Joaquim David, former CEO of Sonangol and former Minister of Finance; António Orfão, current CEO of the Angola LNG Project; and Ruben Costa, current CEO of Sonagás (Sonangol Natural Gas).

This article was contributed by Tako Koning, a Canadian petroleum geologist and long-term resident of Luanda. He has served since 1998 as Programme chairperson of SPE Angola’s board of directors.

Sonangol engineer wins SPE award

Tako Koning presents the award to Engineer Cruz (on the right)

Sonangol USA


SONANGOL USA:NEW ERANEW CLIENTS Crude oil sales to the United States are tumbling as the country taps its own huge deposits more effectively. Sonangol’s oil traders are facing the challenge of finding new clients in the Americas for Angolan oil

Sonangol USA

DECEMBER 2014 21

Fracking in California

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Sonangol USA

S onangol USA, the Angolan oil company’s trading subsidiary for the Americas, is living in interesting times. From its Houston, Texas-

based office, Sonangol USA has a front-row view of the radical changes underway in the United States, which are shaking up the global oil and gas market.

Thanks to the extensive use of more efficient recovery methods, generally known as fracking, the United States is sharply boosting yields of oil and gas from its vast, once declining, onshore fields. As it is the world’s largest economy and major oil and gas importer, this has already meant sharp falls in US fuel prices and imports.

“The biggest market challenge is to try to find new clients, but we’re confident we will do so and Sonangol will be strengthened as a result,” said Elma Pegado de Almeida, Sonangol USA’s president and CEO, whose team faces the task of identifying alternative outlets for Angolan crude.

According to Almeida, Sonangol USA’s latest sales efforts are concentrated on Canada, the US West Coast and South America. The company has already built network relationships with these potential clients through industry meetings and events, but is aware they have current and long-standing supply chains, free-trade agreements, local sources or qualities that have been in these systems for a long time.

“Sonangol USA understands the dynamic oil supply pattern shifts that have occurred because of the shale oil and Canadian oil booms. Indeed, American shale oil and Canadian production is impacting global oil flows,” she said.

“Still, Sonangol USA is responsible for developing outlets for Sonangol crude cargo sales in the Americas. It is our top priority to reach all regions there. Selling sweet crude oil cargoes into the global marketplace is a highly competitive and aggressive business. Sonangol USA is dedicated to working with all American

clients, both existing and new, to explain Sonangol marketing abilities and Angolan crude qualities and to understand individual client needs,” she added.

Notwithstanding America’s new oil boom, Angola’s oil exports to the United States had already been falling as alternative emerging markets proved more alluring. China took 45 per cent of Angola’s 783,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil exports in 2013, followed by India with 12 per cent. Taiwan was the third-largest importer of Angolan oil, and the United States, the biggest customer a few years ago, occupied only fourth place.

CEO Almeida, however, is confident that there will always be room in the US market for Angolan oil owing to its qualities. It has heavy and sweet grades that permit its successful blending with local grades, whereas US oil from shale is characteristically light and sweet and often requires blending with other grades.

“Many American refineries have


Houston by night

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Sonangol USA

renewed interest in Angolan grades because of the economic advantages these qualities provide in refinery blending and processing, especially with the abundant supplies of extra-light sweet shale oil from Bakken [North Dakota] and Eagle Ford [Texas] deposits. Angolan crude qualities assist refiners to achieve optimal economics,” she explained.

David B. Wayland, crude oil and trading manager at Sonangol USA for over four years, agreed. “Angolan oil is a good fit. Its variety and quality combines well with fracked oil.

“Globally, fracking is the biggest development in the oil business,” said Wayland, who has over 40 years’

experience. As an example of the shake-up it has caused, he pointed to the fact that Nigeria, for the first time since 1986, has not managed to export a single barrel to the United States. “Texas alone now produces a massive 3.3 million bpd.” This is almost twice Angola’s current output.

Despite the challenges, Wayland sees reasons for optimism in sales of Angolan oil to the United States apart from its inherent qualities. “There are good prospects of selling crude to the US West Coast and Hawaii. Canada is also a possible new outlet.”

Sonangol’s efforts to find new buyers and raise crude exports in Latin America have made some headway. The company

“Globally, fracking is the biggest development in the oil business” – David B. Wayland,

crude oil and trading manager at Sonangol USA

DECEMBER 2014 23


Elma Pegado de Almeida is a product of Sonangol’s corporate training scheme. She joined Sonangol’s finance department in 1982 and holds a degree in Accountancy. In 1994/1996 she was seconded to Italian state oil company ENI. In Milan, she concluded her master’s degree in Economics, Energy and Environment.

She has lived in the United States since 2001, where she initially took English classes in Austin, Texas. In 2007 she was nominated Sonangol USA’s employee of the year.

Elma Pegado de Almeida – Sonangol USA president and CEO

already has customers in the region, such as Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

Oil trading and exploration co-operation with Brazil is well established. In addition, Chile signed an agreement in August 2014 whereby Sonangol will supply local oil company ENAP with 9 million barrels of crude in 2015, three times more than previously, thus making Angola Chile’s largest supplier.

Apart from US fracking, oil trader Wayland identified the other big oil market-movers as China and India, both of which are already receiving larger shipments of Angolan oil and have refineries capable of handling all oil grades.

Wayland believes Angola has made great progress in consolidating its reputation and has created a “trustworthy and safe environment” for the oil business and investors. He cited the fact that major operators such as Chevron, Exxon, BP and Total are well established in the country, and this enhances confidence in Angola’s oil trade.

Looking forward, Wayland sees Sonangol USA working more closely in concert with Sonangol Shipping as a means to leverage its oil trading and attract fresh buyers.

“It is important Sonangol USA remains attentive to client needs and takes time to develop new partners. Our goal remains to sell Angolan crude to valued customers and achieve the best possible market price for Sonangol crude oil sales,” declares Elma Pegado de Almeida.

Changing oil worldThe US oil and gas market is changing, and changing fast. Thanks to the blistering success of fracking, the world’s largest economy is sharply reducing its dependence on oil and gas imports.

In November 2013, the White House announced that for the first time in 20 years the country was importing less oil than it was producing at home. By the end of 2014 oil imports are expected to fall below 7 million bpd compared to 10 million bpd in 2009. In 2015, the United States is expected

to become the largest oil and gas producer in the world.

The writing is on the wall and it is clear: oil-producing companies serving North America have to adapt to this new situation. The oil that major exporters such as Nigeria once sold to the United States will now have to find a market elsewhere, and this will contribute to falling world oil prices.

There is hope, however, that new emerging markets will pick up the slack, especially the huge energy-hungry economies of China and India, where Angola is already a major player.

US shale gas success has altered the destination of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Angola LNG project. The $10 billion LNG plant at Soyo in Zaire province in Angola was originally destined to supply the United States, but the fall in US prices has reduced demand. Fortunately, Angola LNG has been able to gain much higher prices for its gas in the Far East. p

Sonangol USA

Bra

zuk

Ltd

DECEMBER 2014 25

“Selling sweet crude oil cargoes into the global marketplace is a highly competitive

and aggressive business” – Elma Pegado de Almeida

Huambo-born Inácio Bueti is finance manager at Sonangol USA. He has been based in Houston since 2008, having originally studied Accountancy and Finance at Scotland’s Aberdeen University.

Bueti’s role is to ensure that finance funding is available for operational needs, and he also evaluates customer creditworthiness. Until now there have been no defaults, he said with satisfaction.

Although he comes from an upstream background, Bueti is happy that he gets to handle all aspects of accounts at Sonangol USA. “Here the accounting is more general. There’s a good budgeting process. I forecast expenses and provide advice to meet budget needs so that there are no delays in office operations. I am also involved in relations with the banks. Sonangol gives me good support in my work.”

The 34-year-old Bueti likes being in Texas: “It’s the epicentre of the oil industry. Houston is the oil capital of the world. It’s a good place to be for oil.”

He also sees Houston as a good place for leisure and somewhere he can indulge his appreciation of theatre and music, especially the guitar and drums.

Inácio Bueti - Holding to account

Sonangol USA

Sonangol USA staff line-up

Bra

zuk

Ltd

Bra

zuk

Ltd

Sonangol USA


Eunice João - 24/7 serviceWhatever the future of oil sales to the United States, Sonangol USA’s Houston HQ will continue to help provide the round the clock coverage for operations it shares with Sonangol’s offices in London and Singapore. These offices, strategically placed in three important time zones, ensure that any cargo of crude shipped throughout the world is supervised around the clock.

Eunice João is Sonangol USA’s operations manager. In tandem with her colleagues in Europe and Asia, she oversees some 25 cargoes a month. Her role is one of troubleshooting in the period from the sale of the oil to receipt of payment.

Born in Luanda’s Maianga district, João has been with Sonangol for 18 years. She started her career in Sonangol’s IT Department in 1996 after

graduating in Computer Science at Salford University near Manchester, England.

She moved to Houston 10 years ago as an operations analyst and became operations manager in 2011. She enjoys her job, which she describes as “never boring and very motivating”.

“Sonangol’s a good company to work for and Houston a good place to work.” João says.

She also derives great satisfaction from training up new Sonangol employees in her department and has mentored seven people so far.

Life in Houston agrees with her. The weather is good and suits her love of outdoor activities, such as riding bikes, jogging and hiking. She also enjoys networking and having friends from all over the world including, of course, ex-pat Angolans.

Bra

zuk

Ltd

“Sonangol’s a good

company to work for and

Houston a good place to work.”

– Eunice João, operations manager

at Sonangol USA

Sonangol USA

DECEMBER 2014 27

What is fracking?Non-conventional oil recovery methods, broadly lumped together under the name ‘fracking’, are the reasons behind the current US oil and gas boom. These techniques exploit large untapped reserves in existing oil and gas fields, mainly in the southern state of Texas, in the north in Montana and North Dakota, and Pennsylvania in the east.

Fracking, or hydraul ic fracturing, is the process of drilling into the earth, then directing a high-pressure water mixture containing sand and chemicals into the rock to release the gas inside. This allows trapped gas to flow out of the well.

Fracking is often used in conjunction with another non-

conventional oil recovery method, horizontal drilling, which provides access to oil reservoirs. One significant advantage of horizontal drilling is that it minimises vertical drilling through non-productive geological layers. Instead, the drill is maintained in the geological layer where there are already proven oil and gas deposits, ensuring continuity of flows.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, just one per cent of the country’s natural gas came from shale in 2001. This rocketed to 20 times that in 2010 and is forecast to reach 45 per cent in 2038. Consequently, US reliance on imports is now down from 60 per cent to 34 per cent.

STENA-SONANGOL:

POOLING


RESOURCES

Sonangol shipping

As Sonangol’s shipping joint venture with Sweden’s Stena Bulk now nears its 10th anniversary, Universo takes stock of what it has achieved to date

DECEMBER 2014 29

Sonangol shipping

Sonangol Huíla at sea

S onangol Marine Services and Swedish shipping giant Stena Bulk established the Stena-Sonangol Suezmax Pool (SSSP) joint venture

in 2005. The aim was (and still is) to maximise profits for Pool tonnage and attract owners of quality Suezmax tonnage to join the Pool.

Stena Bulk’s long history, experience and size has allowed it to be an ideal partner for Sonangol Shipping and provide both professional commercial and operational on-the-job training and employment opportunities with the Pool and enable Sonangol to help Angola develop its seafaring culture.

Sonangol made the strategic decision to participate in the wider global shipping market as a semi-autonomous player rather than concentrate exclusively on carrying only Angola’s daily oil output.

The logistical thinking behind the SSSP is similar to that of a co-operative of truck drivers. After making a delivery, drivers may find themselves in an area where it makes much more economic sense to pick up another load and take advantage of

their position rather than head fruitlessly home to base.

The SSSP has access to a common client base, and the client base has access to all of the vessels.

“We have a fleet with comprehensive [geographic] coverage. The shipper needs to be a one-shop stop. We have the critical mass and are big enough to get the call,” Mark Heater, president of Sonangol Marine Services, told Universo in his office in Houston’s Energy Corridor in Texas.

On the wall opposite his desk a wide computer screen shows the details and positions of all the SSSP ships. They appear quite evenly distributed across the seas.

The most important client consid-erations when choosing a carrier are cost and safety, and the SSSP is able to meet both client expectations. Currently the SSSP commercially manages 23 modern Suezmax tankers, the latest additions to the fleet arrived in 2013.

The oldest Sonangol Suezmax in the SSSP was built in 2000 and the last Sonangol Suezmax to join the SSSP fleet was Sonangol Cabinda in 2013. All the ships are double-hulled to meet environmental protection requirements in case of accident and to benefit from lower insurance premiums. Sonangol’s newer Suezmaxs are also designed to be energy efficient and allow fuel savings of around 15 per cent compared to the older Sonangol Suezmaxs. The Sonangol Cabinda is about 20 per cent more fuel efficient than the Sonangol Luanda (built in 2000).

Performance of all of the SSSP’s vessels is closely supervised so that they make the best use of energy and contribute to profitability.

“The SSSP very closely monitors the ships, and we note lower energy use because payout is directly related to consumption efficiency,” Heater explained.

He believes most of the savings from design modifications is at a stage of diminishing returns and the ‘low-hanging fruit’ has already been picked. Nevertheless, he believes that Sonangol Shipping’s most recent Suezmax ships, ordered in late 2014, will continue to show performance and efficiency improvements.

A measure of Sonangol Shipping’s increasingly sophisticated workforce is the fact that it employs Oscar Muteba, a 38-year-old Angolan naval architect who trained in Genoa, Italy. He has contributed

The pool has access to

a fleet of 23 modern Suezmax

tankers and recently completed

a fleet renewal programme

Sonangol shipping

A Sonangol LNG carrier


to construction work on several pool vessels, his first being the Sonangol Namibe back in 2006.

The SSSP currently has yet no concrete plans to expand its pool beyond a maximum of 30 ships, but as vessels age it will have to replace them.

Swelling numbersSonangol Shipping requires increasing numbers of qualified Angolan personnel, and the good news is that they are coming. There are many students in Sonangol’s training pipeline, but currently few of them have substantial maritime experience – this paucity has meant that the company has had to deploy the small number with such experience onshore in managerial positions.

Sonangol and SuezmaxAccording to Mark Heater, there are two reasons why Sonangol chose to build

Suzemax rather than Very Large Crude Carrier tankers: “For the same amount of funding, we could build more Suezmaxs, and more rather than fewer ships would allow Sonangol to train additional sea staff.”

Rates for shipping can be volatile, so managing a fleet requires both luck and skill. The highest average monthly earnings of the Sonangol Suezmax fleet was achieved by the Sonangol Namibe in July 2008 at $84,160/day. The lowest average monthly earnings of the fleet came from the Sonangol Kizomba in October 2013: just $10,150/day, Heater said.

Heater has calculated that the SSSP manages to obtain vessel utilisation rates “above the industry average”. This has not been easy to achieve but the combination of quality tonnage, worldwide coverage (Houston, Gothenburg and Singapore) and an excellent reputation with the market has gone a long way to generating these results.

Asked if the boom in US domestic oil and gas production would affect freight rates, Heater replied, “Will there be an impact? Yes. But it’s hard to say what it will be – of most interest to a ship-owner is the question ‘Will the global ton miles travelled increase or decrease?’ The jury is out.”

The task facing all shippers is a tough one, given increasing competition in an unstable market with many factors to take into account, such as excess tonnage availability and the effects of depressed economies on trade.

Owners have to decide when it is best and cheapest to build new ships, and then must take a view on whether there will be cargoes when they are launched.

Sonangol Shipping and the SSSP are both training up their staffs to meet these difficult challenges. We wish them well. Boa viagem! p

The opportunities for the advancement of Angolans in the SSSP are significant. Aguinaldo António Pedro, a 36-year-old from the Cassaquel district of Luanda, is an excellent example.

He studied for a year in India followed by a year in Scotland at City of Glasgow College - and after training reached the post of second mate at sea. He spent nine years at sea altogether, a relative rarity in Angola, where very few workers have such long experience.

He joined the SSSP in November 2009 as a commercial operator and spent over two years in Houston on the operation’s desk. He then moved to Gothenburg, Sweden, to learn and work on the chartering side, where he stayed over a year altogether. Pedro was the first Angolan to be seconded there.

He analyses spot market conditions, seeks suitable charter cargoes and negotiates freight rates. “I have a lot of responsibility. The value of the vessel may be $50 million and the freight cost $3-$4 million with a crew of around 25.

“Working for Stena Bulk Sonangol is very rewarding. There are so many opportunities. You can become anything you want,” he told Universo.

Pedro has always found life at sea interesting. “The crew is varied and you may be working with Indians, Eastern Europeans and Filipinos, so you are obliged to speak English,” he said.

This seaman is proud that Angola is the only African country to have its own pool.

“I would definitely encourage Angolans to follow my career path.”

Aguinaldo António Pedro – Chartering experience

Sonangol shipping

Bra

zuk

Ltd

DECEMBER 2014 31

32 SONANGOL UNIVERSO32 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

SHIPPINGSonangol shipping

Oil travels first class with Stena-Sonangol

DECEMBER 2014 33

Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCCs)The largest oil tanker ever built was Seawise Giant. This 458-metre-long was indeed a giant. It weighed well over 560,000 dry weight tonnes (dwt) and needed a draft of 24.6 metres. Owing to its size, it was not only too big for the Suez and Panama canals, but could not even use the English Channel when fully laden. Built in Japan in 1979, the vessel has since been scrapped.

Currently the largest ULCCs in service are TI Europe and TI Oceania, each with 441,893dwt. They were built in 2002-03.

Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs)These carriers are the most common type of ‘super tanker’. They usually weigh around 250,000dwt and are able to carry 2 million barrels of crude oil.

SuezmaxSuezmax tankers get their name from their capability of using the Suez Canal. Maximum draft is 20.1 metres and they typically weigh around 160,000dwt and have a width or ‘beam’ of 50 metres. Usual capacity is around 1 million barrels.

Stena Bulk Sonangol’s Sonangol Rangel is 157,756dwt and has a 48-metre beam.

PanamaxPanamax are named for to their ability to traverse the Panama Canal.

Maximum draft is 12 metres, but there are also length restrictions (294 metres) as ships must use locks on the canal. A bridge also causes restrictions depending on the variable water depth.

AframaxThis is a ship size which has nothing to do with Africa! An Aframax is an oil tanker smaller than 120,000 tonnes and with a beam of 32 metres. ‘Afra’ stands for Average Freight Rate Assessment, a tanker classification introduced by Shell in 1954 to standardise contract terms.

Aframax tankers can serve most ports in the world and are optimal for short- and medium-haul crude deliveries.

Oil tanker types

SHIPPINGSonangol shipping

Sten

a

NAME YEAR BUILT DWT (dry weight tonnes)

STENA BULK SUNRISE 2013 159,000

STENA BULK SUPREME 2012 159,000

STENA BULK SUPERIOR 2011 159,236

AST SUNSHINE 2013 159,000

MONTESTENA BULK 2012 159,179

PRINCIMAR COURAGE 2013 158,368

PRINCIMAR INTEGRITY 2012 159,000

PRINCIMAR PRIDE 2012 158,542

SONANGOL CABINDA 2013 157,500

SONANGOL PORTO AMBOIM 2012 157,500

SONANGOL HUILA 2012 157,500

SONANGOL KALANDULA 2011 157,955

SONANGOL RANGEL 2011 157,756

SONANGOL NAMIBE 2007 158,425

SONANGOL KASSANJE 2005 158,706

SONANGOL KIZOMBA 2001 159,165

SONANGOL LUANDA 2000 159,178

ALMI NAVIGATOR 2013 149,999

ALMI EXPLORER 2013 157,786

YASA POLARIS 2009 158,475

YASA SCORPION 2010 158,475

YASA SOUTHERN CROSS 2010 158,475

Stena Bulk Sonangol Suezmax Pool (double-hulled vessels)


Celma Zeferino was cherry-picked as one of the three best Sonangol scholarship students completing an Accountancy degree at the University of Tennessee. Her task now is to work on the complex accounting procedures involved with the Sonangol Shipping fleet.

“Each vessel is treated individually for accounting purposes, and the work is very technical and demanding,” she explained.

It does however mean she is developing as a

specialist in shipping accounts, she added with a smile. Zeferino is responsible for the accounts of four tankers and three LNG carriers, a robust workload for the 30-year-old born in Vila Alice, Luanda.

As part of her preparation for this role, she spent time training in Luanda and Dubai.

Zeferino told Universo that one thing that pleased her very much was seeing more Angolans now working in her area.

Celma Zeferino – Making oil add up

Sonangol shipping

A Suezmax passes under the Golden Gate Bridge

DECEMBER 2014 35

João Almeida is a general manager at Sonangol Marine Services, with technical responsibility for the day-to-day running of shipping operations. Almeida, from the Comandante Valódia area of Luanda, is a 38-year-old with many weighty tasks on his shoulders. He was promoted to his present position at the end of 2013 and has to ensure the fleet is operated efficiently, safely and with due concern for the environment.

“The decisions I have to take involve a lot of money and lots of risks, and they have to be made in a very short time on a daily basis, but we’ve been very successful. We’ve had near misses, but they have been controlled and accidents have been avoided. Our fleet is 15 per cent more fuel efficient than it was 5 to 10 years ago,’ he said with a hint of relief.

He keeps a close eye on

the fleet’s key performance indicators and monitors the ships around the clock. He also receives daily detailed reports so he can be promptly made aware of any deviations from normal running that may require action.

Almeida is another relatively veteran sailor among the youthful group that makes up the bulk of Angolan seafarers. He was part of the first Angolan cadet intake at City of Glasgow College in 1998. Previously, he was Sonangol’s representative in Korea overseeing the construction of tanker Sonangol Rangel during the six months it took to complete.

Almeida said his greatest satisfaction has been seeing his former juniors trained and succeeding in their jobs, such as chief engineer Francisco Miranda who he is now managing.

João Almeida – Keeping watch

Sonangol shipping

Sten

a

Bra

zuk

Ltd

Sonangol education


Bernabe Ndinofina, WAMS president and CEO

Bra

zuk

Ltd

B ernabe Ndinofina is a big, hearty man who hails from Angola’s southern desert province of Cunene. The stifling heat and

humidity outside his cool bright suite of offices hold no fears for him as he surveys the wide flat sea of dark greenery that is George Bush Park on the edge of the mostly grey concrete city of Houston, Texas.

Ndinofina is president and CEO of West Africa Management Services, LLC (WAMS), Sonangol’s scholarship management company, which has been operating in the United States since 1999.

The role of WAMS is to select and monitor the performance of university faculties in US and Canadian universities so that Sonangol’s scholars are directed towards the best places and courses to study their subjects. Once the students are enrolled in the universities, WAMS monitors them to see how well they are progressing.

A second and extremely important function is to support the everyday needs of their students, who are often away from home for the very first time and a very long way from their families.

Specialist subjectsReflecting its goals as an oil company, Sonangol mostly selects courses that are related to Civil and Mechanical Engineering

as well as Mining. Other favoured courses include Geography, Chemistry, Geophysics, Computer Science and Mechatronics, a hybrid subject where electronics and mechanics meet. This last discipline is important and useful for specialists in remote-controlled subsea wellheads.

To date, WAMS has mostly allocated scholars to places in around 80 US universities, but in recent years it has included two universities in Canada. This move north of the border is part of the company’s efforts to diversify its service suppliers. Canada’s prestigious Alberta University, with its reputation for producing excellent oil engineers, is a destination for some of Sonangol’s best students in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Canadian universities have accepted 53 Angolan students via WAMS since 2013. This growth in student numbers has benefited from the assistance and close links WAMS enjoys with the Canadian Consulate in Luanda.

Only the best will do WAMS has the task of finding more and more university places for a growing number of scholarship winners as Sonangol expands to meet the needs of its increasingly technically sophisticated workforce.

Sonangol education

WAMS SUPPORTING STUDENTS

Sonangol is sponsoring the education and training of rapidly growing numbers of students in North America. Universo looks at the work of its Texas-based

scholarship support organisation, WAMS

DECEMBER 2014 37

(WEST AFRICA MANAGEMENT SERVICES):

Sonangol’s scholars

are directed towards the best places and courses

to study their subjects

Sonangol education

In September 2013, the number of students passing through the hands of WAMS’ Houston office jumped from 200 to 500. By 2017, the numbers will more than double again to 1,200 as Sonangol expands its pool of graduates and potential employees.

In the period 2004–13, of the 400 graduates emerging from the Sonangol scholarship scheme in the United States, most went on to work for Sonangol and the Angolan government. One student, a graduate in Architecture some five years ago, is now deputy governor of one of Angola’s southern provinces.

Sonangol is keen to select the best students and place them in the highest-rated universities. To achieve this goal, Sonangol conducts highly competitive

entrance examinations and rigorous selection tests for the scholarship scheme. University courses are constantly monitored for quality and their rankings revised.

According to Ndinofina, improved testing at Sonangol has led to a rise in candidate standards. This comes as no surprise, as Sonangol selected just 500 students out a total of 14,000 examination candidates aiming to study in the United States and Canada in 2013.

US universities with Angolan students include Texas Tech University in Lubbock, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M University, Louisiana and University of Denver.

In loco parentisWAMS also exercises a very important pastoral role and provides a wide range of support services for the young Angolans, who mostly have never travelled abroad before. These include a welcoming reception and orientation; help with visas, tickets and travel arrangements, accommodation and health insurance as well as assistance with opticians and dentists. In emergencies, students can count on WAMS, which provide support in cases such as bereavements.

The organisation is called upon to stand in for the parents of students abroad. The course completion and success rate of Sonangol students in the United States and Canada is testimony that WAMS is doing its job well. p

West Africa Management Services, LLC has been in existence for over 15 years. WAMS originally operated in Dubuque, Iowa, under American ownership, but since June 2004, the company has relocated to Houston, and is now under direct Sonangol control.

WAMS undertakes the placement of Angolan student in US and Canadian higher educational colleges on behalf of Sonangol EP.

Although mainly functioning as a scholarship support company for Sonangol, WAMS also offers these services to other companies, organisations and individual sponsors who wish to place their students in the United States, including those doing short-term courses such as English Language.

WAMS specialists work with academic and international advisors at the universities its students attend. WAMS manages the financial, housing and health aspects of student scholarships as well as individuals’ living expenses. It also deals with their travel requirements and secures any necessary visas. In addition, the company organises annual student meetings where students get together and report to their sponsors.

WAMS surveys the colleges on an annual basis to see how they perform in the key subjects Sonangol is seeking and adjusts its student allocation policy accordingly.

What WAMS doesLuis Costa, Academic & Logistics

department manager


Top students: Aurea Dias, José Van-dunem, Bruna Sousa and Ariadne Dias

Bra

zuk

Ltd

Sonangol education

Bernabe Ndinofina – World experience

Bernabe Ndinofina was born in Nehome, 150km from Ngiva, also known as Ondjiva, in Cunene province. He is no stranger to studying abroad, and his varied academic life experience has equipped him very well psychologically for the demands of the role he now performs at WAMS.

Ndinofina had a traumatic baptism of fire during his own student career, after he was awarded an Angolan government scholarship to the former Soviet Union. He was sent from Moscow by train to Tashkent Institute in the very distant republic of Uzbekistan, where he was to spend six years studying Russian and Economic Planning. Unfortunately for the young Angolan, he was given just 10 rubles (a few dollars) to cover his food expenses on the train and,

after seven long days aboard, his money ran out. In order to buy food and survive the journey, he was so desperate that he was forced to sell his watch!

While in Russia he contracted malaria and had to be nursed back to health, surrounded by staff whose language he could not speak.

All was not gloom and doom, though; while he was there, he met his future wife.

Prior to his trip to Russia, Ndinofina also spent four years studying in Cuba.

Later in life and now working for Sonangol, this much-travelled Angolan was posted to England to study English for 6 months.

So Ndinofina has studied abroad in three greatly contrasting climatic and economic situations, has learned three new languages

and has suffered isolation, hunger and disease in a foreign land. If anyone should have empathy and sympathy for the new young arrivals in Houston, then surely this is the person.

One hopes that no Angolan students will have to suffer the hardships that the CEO did, and WAMS will certainly be available to help out should they face any such difficulties.

Bernabe Ndinofina joined Sonangol in 1995 and worked as a crude oil trader from 1996 to 1998, when he was posted to Sonangol USA in Houston. He was appointed to his current position at WAMS in 2004 and oversaw the move of operations first from Dubuque, Iowa, to Sonangol USA’s office in Houston and then to the dedicated office WAMS occupies today, just a 10-minute drive away.

DECEMBER 2014 39

Bra

zuk

Ltd

Sonangol knowledge


A substantial portion of Angola’s oil and gas production assets is aging, and output is tailing off. Sonangol engineer Geraldo André Raposo Ramos guides us through the scale of the problem and the remedies

ASSET INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT:

AIMING HIGH

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Sonangol knowledge

DECEMBER 2014 41

O il and gas production equipment needs to be kept in good condition throughout its lifetime. Asset integrity

management (AIM) is the term used in industry to describe the steps needed to ensure this is the case.

All major oil companies, including Sonangol, view AIM as a major concern.

“Sonangol EP needs to reinforce AIM to reduce production loss by delaying the decline and extending the lifetime of its facilities,” says Engineer Ramos.

Oil producers have to make decisions on how they maintain and dispose of their assets. A good analogy would be with a car. Normally someone buys a car with a view to using it over a period of time – say, 15 years. After that, they might come to the conclusion that it isn’t worth maintaining and that it should be scrapped and recycled.

On the other hand, the aim might be to conserve this asset and keep it running in the best possible condition for as long as possible. This is the case with vintage cars where meticulously maintained cars, some over a 100 years old, have all their major parts renovated so that the vehicle can still perform well and even run a good race.

The maintenance of an individual car and its eventual disposal probably affects very few people; however, an oil rig or a pipeline could have negative impacts on hundreds of people’s health and safety and on the environment if not managed well.

Angola’s asset management“The age of Angola’s petroleum facilities ranges from months to 46 years. This implies a need for more effort and a good AIM programme with periodic or systematic inspections and maintenance of petroleum facilities,” says Ramos.

Angola has 251 offshore oil structures: wellhead jackets, compliant towers, jack-ups, conventional and accommodation platforms, tension leg platforms (TLPs), floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) and floating storage and offloading (FSO) units, buoys and accommodation barges.

AIM will reduce unprogrammed

shutdowns, production losses and delays, and keep the facilities in good condition until the end of the production sharing agreement when these facilities are handed over to the concessionaire (Sonangol EP).

Good management will allow the facilities to continue processing safely, extend the life of aging assets, and ensure the integrity of wells and marine/platform or marine/rig interfaces.

Elements that affect installation safety are fatigue, corrosion, geotechnical and geological hazards, accidental damage, extreme weather, modifications or changes to existing facilities, and marine growth.

Sonangol EP needs to continue monitoring the operators’ corrosion programmes by using the cathode protection method, corrosion inhibitors and emulsifiers, specific coatings, filling all storage oil vessels and painting programmes, or employment of other technologies available on the market.

Well integrity may be maintained by monitoring the quality of injected water, pressures, leaks on wells, work-over activities, chemicals injected and sand production. For all changes and for the addition of new structures, Sonangol EP needs to consider the weight of topsides and of new modules.

Angola is not a country with strong or severe weather, but monitoring structure foundations is critical because damage may occur first in members and joints in steel substructures, structural supports for risers, topside structural supports, and equipment on lower decks.

Engineer Ramos believes Sonangol EP must work on laws and regulations for AIM to ensure the inclusion of policy, strategy,

objectives, procedures, standards, codes and systems of data control. This will help to prevent, detect, control and mitigate infrastructure deterioration. It will not only require laws, regulations, and a well-developed AIM programme, but it will also be critical for Sonangol to have permanent

“Sonangol EP needs to reinforce AIM to reduce production loss by delaying the decline and

extending the lifetime of its facilities”– Geraldo Ramos

0 GS-Alpha 45

0 GS-Bravo 45

0 GS-Charlie 44

0 GS-Delta 44

0 GS-Delta Aux 44

0 GS-Echo 44

0 GS-Fox 42

0 GS-Hotel 36

0 GIP-Delta 32

0 GIP-Fox 32

0 GIP-Hotel 32

2 Essungo ‘A’ 32

0 GS-Julie 31

0 GSL 31

0 GSL-Aux 31

0 GS-KILO 30

Block Platform Years

Platforms with 30 or more years of production (2013)


Sonangol knowledge

personnel on production platforms or drilling rigs as well as at the engineering phase of all projects.

Sonangol EP’s Department of Production began drawing up an AIM programme with a number of different stages in 2012.

Phase I relates to planning and execution of more rigorous inspection plans for petroleum infrastructure. The team has now been enlarged by adding Sonangol’s Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE or QSSA in Portuguese) division and representatives of the Ministry of Petroleum. Specialist companies are permitted to provide AIM and lifetime management

support for oil and gas infrastructure, facilities and equipment. They offer support to oil companies through the conception, design, construction, commissioning, operations and decommissioning phases. Their goal is to help effectively manage corporate assets in order to gain maximum value, profitability and returns while safeguarding personnel, the community and the environment.

Thorough AIM programmes incorporate design, inspections and maintenance as well as management concepts, as all these affect infrastructure and equipment. Therefore, specialists and engineering support are needed in a wide range of

areas, such as process safety, mechanical integrity, corrosion and metallurgy and risk analysis.

Management programmes are holistic; they deal with everything that impacts on the assets, and there is clearly a community of interests with QHSE.

The approaches of AIM and QHSE are similarly all-embracing and they share the same aims for optimum outcomes in terms of performance, safety and reducing environmental risk. A successful AIM programme will maximise facility reliability, availability and ease of maintenance with a view to extending and enhancing performance and profit. p

Engineer Geraldo Ramos

Type of platform Qty Block

Wellhead jackets 181 0, 2, 3

Compliant tower 2 14

Jack-up 1 0

Conventional 37 0, 2, 3

Accommodation 5 0, 2

TLP 2 15

FPSO 12 0, 4/05, 14, 15, 17, 18, 31

FSO 1 3

Buoy 8 0, 14, 15, 17, 18

Accommodation barges 2 2, 3

Total 251

Number of offshore platforms in Angola

DECEMBER 2014 43

Sonangol knowledge

The main international oil companies with production sharing agreements in Angola are ExxonMobil (USA), BP (UK), Statoil (Norway), Eni (Italy), Total (France), Maersk Oil and Gas (Denmark), Petrobras (Brazil), ConocoPhillips (USA), Repsol (Spain), Cobalt (USA), Chevron (USA), SOMOIL (Angola), Sonangol P&P (Angola), Pluspetrol (Spain), Chevron

(USA) under joint venture operation contracts, and Cobalt (USA) under a service risk agreement.

In addition, there are some technical and service support companies such as ABB Vetco Gray (Switzerland/USA), BJ Services Company (Scotland), FMC Technologies (France), Halliburton (USA), Schlumberger Oilfield Services (France), Technip (France), Subsea 7

(Norway/UK), Cameron (USA), and GE (USA); and the main contractor drilling companies such as Transocean (USA), Seadrill (Norway), Saipem (Italy) and ENSCO (USA), among others.

Current oil and gas production is supported by 12 blocks with nine offshore and three onshore (Cabinda Sul, Fina Sonangol and Fina Sonangol Texaco).

Oil and service support companies in Angola

Off Off Off Off Off Off Off Off Off On On On

Block 0 2 3 4/05 14 15 17 18 18 FS FST Cabinda Sul

Operator ChevronSonangol

P&PSonangol

P&PSonangol

P&PChevron Esso Total BP BP SOMOIL SOMOIL Pluspetrol

Off = Offshore, On = Onshore

Blocks in production

Shu

tter

sto

ck

Angola has revived its national cultural festival, Fenacult.Universo witnessed the recent extravaganza and asks what the future holds for the event


NATIONALSHOW TIME

Victor Gama plays his Acrux

CULTURE

DECEMBER 2014 45

Ru

i Per

alta

“W e will show the brand Angola to the world, to honour the legacy of our forefathers.

That’s what Fenacult is – the glorification of our culture,” said Minister for Culture Rosa Cruz e Silva at the opening ceremony of Fenacult (Festival Nacional de Cultura) 2014 at the 11 de Novembro National Stadium in Luanda.

The festival, in only its second edition in 25 years, took place in venues across the country between August 30 and September 20. The first ever Fenacult – in 1989 – was originally intended to be repeated every four years. Recognising its importance, the Angolan Ministry for Culture has worked tirelessly for the past two years to resurrect the event.

Thousands attended Fenacult’s opening, at which a choir of 300 voices sang the national anthem. The ceremony featured dance choreographed by Ana Clara Guerra Marques, symbolising key moments in Angolan history, from cultural confrontations during the arrival of the Portuguese to the recovery of national identity and the country’s drive for independence. It also showed the new Angola, eager to develop further in the future. It was a splendid start to what Fenacult embodies: preservation of Angola’s diverse traditional culture coupled with futuristic innovation.

Luanda occupied Fenacult 2014’s central stage. It hosted 28 sub-festivals and spectacles; 25 speeches; 16 fairs, exhibitions and workshops; 12 round-table discussions and seven concerts and colloquiums. These were held at some of the capital’s historical landmarks, including the National Stadium, the Congress Palace, the Angolan Writers’ Union, the National Library and the cultural centre Casa 70.

Other events were held at locations that represent the capital’s modern face, such as restaurant and club Miami Beach, Belas Conference Centre, cinema Cine Atlântico, Hotel Epic Sana and the newly renovated Bay of Luanda waterfront.

Video art: streets aheadMiguel Petchkovsky’s multimedia project

in Luanda was a brilliant example of the innovative art that is emerging from Angola. It involved the projection of video art on buildings on Luanda’s Rainha Ginga Street. Petchkovsky is a video art lecturer and curated his project through Video Guerrilha from Brazil.

“Fenacult aims to build a sense of creative responsibility for the future. Now is the time to show the world the creative soul of Angola’s young generation,” he explained.

The artist was born in North East Angola in 1956 and has his roots in the Tchokwe ethnic group, which is known for the artistic representations of its culture. He started his career at the Angolan Cinema Institute in 1980 as a filmmaker, and then studied painting at the famous Gerrit Rietveld Academy (1987–92) in Amsterdam, where he currently lives.

It was the first time that Video Guerrilha had used its new image projection technology in Africa, Petchkovsky told Universo.

“We plan to use the same technology at future events in Angola, such as the inauguration of the new Luanda airport, the Museum of Science and Technology, and the Agostinho Neto Memorial during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Angola’s independence in 2015,” he said.

An example of the videos projected

on buildings in Luanda’s city centre was Closed Circuit (in the Middle of Sweden), a short work by Mattias Härenstam.

... The video – Closed Circuit (After Peter Tillberg: In the Middle of Sweden 1972-73) – is, as the title suggests, a paraphrase of the older artist’s painting. Rows of houses are parked along a lead-gray street, which ends in a circular pothole. We are washed down the hole, through a mouth opening and carted around in a winding tunnel system and eventually spat out on the street again. The trek begins again. This time the journey ends with a plunge into something that looks like an anus. Again, we fall onto the street. It goes on like this. The organic chaos put together with the tenacity of middle-class suburbia turns into a surreal, ominous pulp… Everything is familiar, and yet not.– Excerpt from a review by Sara Arvidsson published at Swedish online art magazine konsten.net

The project also featured five Brazilian and 12 Angolan artists.

“The audience was so creative and inspiring during the workshops, seminars and lectures that accompanied our project. That underlines the need to let people, especially Angola’s younger generation, participate directly in innovative art technology,” Petchkovsky said.


Minister for Culture Rosa Cruz e Silva CULTURE

An

go

p

Interactive instrumentsAnother highlight of Fenacult 2014 was the award-winning exhibition INSTRMNTS by artist, composer and electronics engineer Victor Gama, shown at Luanda’s National Anthropology Museum.

Gama has been designing and building his impressive array of instruments since the early 1990s, blending current fabrication technologies with nature-inspired materials and traditions. The exhibition is laden with symbolism.

On display were more than 30 entirely new, contemporary musical instruments known as ‘Pangeia instrumentos’, each one

of them a breathtaking piece of art in itself. “The exhibition is a space for free

experimentation and interaction where visitors are invited to play the instruments. Video projections and touchpads offer them the opportunity to engage more deeply with my work,” Gama told Universo.

Fenacult’s audience had the opportunity to play instruments such as the Toha, the Tahra, the Acrux and the Tipaw.

The Toha comprises two 21-string diatonic harps in a single instrument with two resonators. Its design was inspired by the nests of the sociable weaver birds that inhabit the regions between the Namibe

and the Kalahari deserts. The Acrux is an installation of four instruments with metal discs and glass soundboards that resemble spaceships. The Tipaw, an instrument with 10 ringing bowls, was inspired by the Bengal tiger.

The exhibition included a performance of Gama’s latest multimedia concert, Vela 6911, written for three of his instruments plus an ensemble of violins, violas, cellos, timpani and bassoons.

Tradition and innovationGama has closely collaborated with and recorded the music of artists in

DECEMBER 2014 47

Angolan traditional dancers

CULTURE

An

go

p

Angola’s interior for the past 20 years. The instruments’ origins are strongly influenced by the traditional musical instruments of Angola” he said.

INSTRMNTS has taken Angolan culture to the rest of the world. It has enchanted audiences at the Royal Opera House in London, Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast, the Portuguese Cultural Centre in Maputo, the Fundación Carlos de Amberes in Madrid and Lisbon’s Centro Cultural de Belém, among other places.

A five-year collaboration with the Kronos Quartet had its world premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York and its European premiere in Lisbon in 2010.

The play’s the thingIn the realm of theatre, A Tree (Uma Árvore) by Nuno Milagre took centre stage. It was performed at Luanda’s oldest theatre, Elinga.

The play was directed by Miguel Hurst and had a cast comprising Virgílio António, Helena Moreno, Yuri de Sousa, Silvio Ferreira do Nascimento and Orlando Sérgio, who is also the producer. Sérgio was born in 1960 in Malange, Angola and is known for Haircut (Corte de Cabelo,1995), The Hero (O Herói, 2004) and At the Photographer’s (No Fotógrafo, 2000).

A Tree is a story about conflict between nature and modernity. In a remote part of Africa, a tree is affected by the proposed building of a motorway near Mutu’s house. Mutu is visited by several people trying to explain the inevitable victory of progress over nature. He bursts out in arguments in favour of preservation of the tree. Every person visiting him is a step higher in the power hierarchy, until the king visits him in person.

Mutu gives each a different speech, increasing the forcefulness of his arguments. He begins by underlining the importance of the tree in his daily life, along with environmental issues. With the growing importance of the visitors, he uses rhetorical tricks and techniques in order to convince them. He creates the tree’s historic and symbolic value, mixing legends with historical accounts borrowed from different African oral traditions. Almost in a trance, he manages to link the tree to Bantu myths of the creation of Earth.

“Fenacult aims to build a sense of creative

responsibility for the future.

Now is the time to show the world the

creative soul of Angola’s young generation”

– Miguel Petchkovsky


Boy playing the Bidon

CULTURE

Ru

i Per

alta

DECEMBER 2014 49

Miguel Petchkovsky (left) with world- renowned video artist Gary Hill

Fenacult: a festival for everyoneFenacult 2014 was not restricted to Luanda. A ‘culture’ train with artists and officials aboard travelled along two lines: from the capital across to Dondo and Malange and, in the south, from Lubango to Menongue. Angolan artists exhibited their work inside the train carriages, and traditional bands gave musical performances both onboard and at stations en route. Fenacult also staged a jazz festival in Lubango.

The nationwide event also featured a cultural fair, a music marathon and a celebration of Angolan cinema in the eastern province of Moxico, while central Angola saw traditional dance displays in Huambo and gospel and hip-hop shows in Bié.

The people of Kwanza Sul enjoyed a gospel music festival, and several poetry events and theatre performances took place in the coastal cities of Benguela and Lobito.

The province of Uíge had a varied programme that included a film exhibition, a photographic exhibition on the life of Angola’s first president, António Agostinho Neto, and a kuduro performance.

Further North, Zaire organised various exhibitions at the Museum of the Kongo Kings, a traditional dance show and a ‘Feminine Voices Festival’ in Soyo, while Cabinda hosted a cultural jamboree featuring many different activities.

At the end, the king proclaims the preservation of the tree, while Mutu himself dies.

The future of FenacultFenacult 2014 was organised in just three months. “In Europe, a project of this scale would normally require three years of preparation,” Miguel Petchkovsky said. “This extremely short timeframe had profound implications for the festival’s promotion. That is the important lesson we take with us to Fenacult’s next edition in 2018.”

Victor Gama agreed. He is convinced that the next festival will manage to surpass Fenacult 2014 across the board. “It will become an established national celebration of Angola’s music and culture.”

Both artists feel that Fenacult 2014 has far-reaching ramifications.

“I think the exchange of innovative ideas on how to take Angolan culture to the next stage is Fenacult’s most important legacy,” added Petchkovsky. “Minister of Culture Rosa Cruz e Silva has an open and

CULTURE

Mig

uel

Pet

cho

vsky

explorative mind, and I praise her for that.“Fenacult 2014 managed to deliver

the message that innovation is key to the progress of Angolan society. It has proven to the audience that culture is a dynamic, multi-layered, multidisciplinary, hybrid, fascinating platform.”

For Gama, the exhibition INSTRMNTS in Luanda was one of the most challenging productions he has ever experienced, but also one of the most rewarding.

“Organising a festival of this nature requires building bridges between various stakeholders interested in expanding and developing the cultural scene for the next generation.

“The perspective of dealing directly with ministry officials, whether in Angola

or elsewhere, is always daunting. But in Luanda, it was gratifying to gradually feel that we were all working towards the same goals.”

Tomorrow’s artistsIn Luanda, the closing ceremony of Fenacult 2014 featured a dance and multimedia spectacle, 3D historical images and videos on Angola’s history and its economic and cultural potential, as well as a performance by a variety of Angolan musicians and dance groups.

Although the festival was a success, the real work has only just begun.

“Angola needs to urgently define a credible and pragmatic methodology of art education,” Petchkovsky said. “That

includes an art academy that covers art history, contemporary art, art research and new art technology. Angola needs a museum of contemporary art, and its existing museums will need a ‘facelift’ to attract young audiences.”

The Ministry for Culture has already expressed its encouragement for the reopening of art schools in Angola.

Petchkovsky feels that the new generation of Angolan artists is looking to him and his fellow experienced artists and cultural managers for support and inspiration.

“We have the responsibility to pass our knowledge on to them, and inspire them to explore new territory. Not in the future, but now.” p

50 SONANGOL UNIVERSO50 SONANGOL UNIVERSO

CULTURE

Playing the Tipaw at INSTRMNTS

Vic

tor

Gam

a

DECEMBER 2014 51

“We have the responsibility

to pass our knowledge on

to the new generation

of Angolan artists and inspire

them to explore new territory.

Not in the future, but now”

– Miguel Petchkovsky

CULTURE

Victor Gama in a Toha duet

José

Fra

de

Sonangol wishes a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all its employees, partners, customers, suppliers and friends

universo - sonangol.co.aoªs/documents/su44_fv.pdf · universo is produced by impact media custom...

Documents