Bangladesh Advancing Energy Partnership with Angola

Bangladesh and Angola have held their first-ever high-level bilateral dialogue to establish a long-term partnership in energy supply, investment, and technical cooperation, marking the beginning of a new chapter in relations between the two nations.

Senior government officials and representatives of state-owned energy enterprises from both countries participated in the virtual meeting, which was held on Friday under the initiative of Bangladesh. The discussions focused extensively on crude oil and gas cooperation, supply chain management, and potential investment opportunities.

The Bangladesh delegation was led by the Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division. The team included senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, alongside top executives from the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Petrobangla.

According to a message received in Dhaka today, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Angola, Miah Md. Mainul Kabir, also joined the meeting and highlighted the mission's ongoing efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries. Mainul Kabir concurrently serves as the High Commissioner to Nigeria.

The Angolan delegation was led by the country's Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, José Alexandre Barroso, accompanied by senior officials from Angola's state energy sector. The Ambassador of Angola to Nigeria also participated in the dialogue, reports BSS.

During the meeting, the Bangladesh side highlighted its growing domestic energy demand. It emphasized that diversifying imports of crude oil and gas beyond the Middle East is a strategic priority to ensure long-term energy security.

Bangladesh expressed its keen interest in developing a Government-to-Government (G2G) energy cooperation framework with Angola. To initiate formal negotiations, Bangladesh invited a technical delegation from Angola to visit Dhaka at the earliest convenience. Furthermore, Bangladesh expressed readiness to send a reciprocal technical mission to Luanda to advance the talks. The Bangladesh delegation also called for the swift finalization of a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish an institutional framework for this bilateral cooperation.
The Angolan delegation presented a comprehensive overview of their nation's energy sector during the meeting. They shared that the country currently produces approximately 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day and is expanding its domestic refining capacity through two new refinery projects.

Angola also highlighted its LNG export capabilities along with upstream and downstream development activities in its gas infrastructure. Concurrently, they expressed a strong interest in attracting foreign investment across the entire supply chain of their energy sector.

Welcoming Bangladesh's proposal for close cooperation, the Angolan delegation stated that they would review the draft of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and provide their feedback swiftly.

Both sides described the discussions as transparent, constructive, and forward-looking. They also acknowledged that significant potential in bilateral energy cooperation still remains untapped.

Reflecting Bangladesh's efforts to secure reliable and diversified energy sources, and aligning with Angola's goals to expand its export markets and attract international investment, both countries agreed to maintain regular communication at the technical level to translate this strategic dialogue into tangible outcomes.