The state oil company of OPEC member Angola, Sonangol, plans to sell off stakes in dozens of joint ventures and cut jobs in order to focus on its core exploration and production business in Africa, Sonangol’s chairman Carlos Saturnino said on Friday. “Instead of investing in Australia, United States etc, Sonangol wants to become an oil company of reference in the African continent. This is major change for us,” Reuters quoted Saturnino as saying at an oil industry event in Paris today. The Angolan company has identified as many as 52 joint ventures from which it wants to exit, the chairman added. The goal of the downsizing is to focus on the core African continent business, make the company more agile, and attract international oil majors back to the Angolan oil industry. Sonangol has been working with France’s Total and Italy’s Eni on analyzing data for oil blocks in […]