Angola's national oil company wants to diversify into critical minerals

By Miguel Gomes

LUANDA, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol said on Wednesday that it wanted to diversify into critical minerals as it reported lower net profit last year.

Sonangol made net profit of more than $750 million in 2025, executives told a press conference, compared with about 736 billion kwanzas in 2024, which equates to about $807 million at current exchange rates.

The conglomerate has stakes in dozens of offshore oil and gas blocks and operates refineries and a fleet of ships.

It also has seven concessions to explore for uranium, lithium and quartz, Chief Executive Sebastiao Gaspar Martins said.

"Sonangol wants to diversify into (critical minerals essential for the) energy transition, ... (It) will be very useful for us to also have a stake and a presence in the development of these minerals," he told reporters.

Angola's government has previously said it plans to sell a 30% stake in Sonangol, for decades a mainstay of the economy, but it is not clear when the sale will happen.

Gaspar Martins said the conditions were not right yet, as the government forges ahead with plans to sell stakes in 10 other state companies this year.

Sonangol put its oil and gas production as 217,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day last year.

Angola is Sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest crude oil producer and has overhauled its regulatory environment to attract new investment from oil majors such as TotalEnergies TTEF.PA, Chevron CVX.N, Shell SHEL.L and Azule Energy, a joint venture between Eni ENI.MI and BP BP.L.

($1 = 912.1300 kwanzas)