CAPE TOWN, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Angola-based Azule Energy has signed a production sharing agreement with the country's National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) and Equinor, for offshore Block 31/21, Azule Energy said on Thursday.
Azule Energy, Angola's largest independent equity producer of oil and gas, is a 50-50 joint venture between Eni and BP, combining the two companies' Angolan businesses.
"The signature of the PSA ... expands Azule's operatorship position in this proven and well-known petroleum system," Adriano Mongini, Azule's chief executive officer said in a statement.
The block, which will be operated by Azule with a 50% participating interest, is located around 170 kms from the coastline and covers some 4,500 square kms of deep water in the Lower Congo Basin.
The contract encompasses the drilling of one exploration well during the initial exploration period of five years, Azule Energy said, as Africa's second-largest crude oil producer looks to stabilise declining output from maturing fields. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by David Evans)