Towards a one-stop shop in Angolan upstream services

Angola

Alves dos Santos, director of Cavisa Oil, talks to The Energy Year about the company’s partnerships with SLB and Baker Hughes, the challenges it faces in becoming a full-service provider and its relationship with local players. Cavisa Oil is a 100% Angolan company providing services and products in the oil sector.

What have been Cavisa Oil’s key activities over the past year?
We’re continuing operations in Gemini (Block 17), but we’re also planning to expand to blocks 5 and 27.
Cementing work is typically awarded to majors such as SLB, Baker Hughes and Halliburton. If Cavisa becomes the main supplier in these blocks, it would represent major progress. We expect a response by September.

What is the status of your partnerships with SLB and Baker Hughes?
The partnership with SLB is still in the bidding stage. As for Baker Hughes, our joint venture is ongoing, but our goal is to become independent. For over 10 years, we’ve learned from working with major service providers. Now, we’re investing in our own capacity, not only in cementing but across the board.
We’re still dependent in some areas, especially for engineers and spare parts. Even when we provide cementing services, we sometimes rely on the big four. However, our strategy is to reduce this reliance and become a standalone provider.

What challenges are you facing in becoming independent?
The biggest issues concern our supply chain and financing. Securing credit from banks for critical equipment, such as a slickline unit, is extremely difficult. It can feel like a nightmare.
To address this, we’ve set up a subsidiary in Lisbon that helps source equipment and finance. We’re also considering opening a branch in Dubai to attract potential investors and partners. Seeking international investment is now a core part of our growth strategy.
While some early investments were personal, we need institutional support to keep growing. We also need stronger technical and commercial partnerships, especially from companies that have been operating in Angola for over a decade. Unfortunately, the market often lacks transparency and trust.

How self-sufficient is Cavisa operationally, and are you expanding outside Luanda?
Most of our key equipment, such as cementing units DLPP and Seahorse, is fully owned by Cavisa. We don’t share those units with Baker Hughes or anyone else. For spare parts, we rely on SLB or Baker Hughes through existing protocols, but the core assets are ours.
At the moment, we operate mainly out of Luanda. Although there’s growing activity in regions such as Namibe, our immediate focus is onshore work. Onshore operations are simpler and more accessible, and they align with our capabilities in cementing and coiled tubing. We’re currently assessing whether our DLPP unit can be adapted to an onshore track.

Are you collaborating with smaller local players in these onshore projects?
Yes. Some have bought slickline units and asked us to operate them in 50/50 arrangements. These companies are still developing and lack the profile to work independently, so they’re turning to Cavisa. They know we have the technical capacity and credibility. We may not be a big company in Angola, but we’ve earned trust in the market.
We’re also aligning with new government priorities, especially around mature fields. There’s increasing interest in filtration and infiltration services, and we’re making those part of our future plans. We’re even exploring a partnership in Dubai to strengthen our slickline service offering.

What are your future plans for service diversification and regional expansion?
We’re open to opportunities in renewables, although our current focus remains oil and gas. If the right partner comes in, especially one interested in capital formation, we’re ready. We’re also looking into chemicals, water-processing and tank-cleaning services.
Namibia is on our radar. We’ve begun conversations with the ANPG [National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency], which has provided contacts and guidance. While nothing is finalised, the intention to expand there is real.
Our long-term goal is to become a leading service provider in Angola across cementing, slickline, coiled tubing and chemicals. We already have a workshop and a lab for class G oil cement so we can deliver high-quality services internally.
Cavisa has been in the market for 17 years. We want to share our knowledge, support local companies and work with international partners such as Halliburton again. Ultimately, we aim to be a one-stop shop for upstream services and products which are built locally, operated professionally and trusted regionally.

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