Angola, sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest oil producer, is expected to double its crude oil output within the next five years.

The central African country's oil production is expected to peak at 1.8 million barrels a day in 2002, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said.

The forecasts of rapid growth came at a conference in Luanda for foreign companies who are keen to get involved in the industry.

This year the country is expected to earn nearly $7bn (�4.46bn) from oil exports.

But there is growing concern that most of this money is not being spent on economic development, and that the majority of Angolans are not benefiting from the country's oil wealth.

'Missing millions'

In October, an internal report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) found that nearly $1bn disappeared from Angolan Government finances last year.

The BBC's Justin Pearce said that larger companies were not showing signs of working towards increased transparency.

On a recent trip to Angola, ChevronTexaco's chairman David O'Reilly said the issue of improving transparency should lie with the government.

Oil companies are also nervous of criticising the government since they are constantly in negotiations over the right to exploit newly discovered oil fields.

Coming aground

A civil war lasting 27 years has meant that relatively few deals have been signed between the government and multinational oil firms.

The expected growth will come from offshore fields discovered during the war.

But Wood Mackenzie expects a flurry of onshore exploration deals to be struck now that the war has ended.