Angola’s state oil company Sonangol will auction 15 new oil and gas blocks this year, the company’s Chairman, Francisco de Lemos Jose Maria, said this week in Luanda. The blocks are located in the Congo and Namibe basins, he added.

Mr Jose Maria also said that Sonangol expects to complete this year the auction process for ten onshore blocks in the basins of Congo and Kwanza. The process started in 2014, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported.

“There will be no production cuts [in 2015]. The fields that are in production will continue to produce, the projects that are in progress will be completed and go into production on the planned dates,” Mr José Maria was quoted saying.

He added that the Angolan oil production would increase in 2015 and 2016, towards the goal set by the Government.

Angola is the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa and the Government expects this year to achieve daily production of 1.83 million barrels.

According to data announced on Wednesday by Sonangol, oil production in Angola fell by 2.6 percent year-on-year in 2014 to 1.67 million barrels per day.