The Atlético Petróleos de Luanda club was founded on 14 January 1980 from the merger of three clubs, Grupo
Sonangol, Clube Atlético de Luanda and
Benfica de Luanda. The establishment was a result of business cooperation after the independence of Angola from colonisation by Portugal. Another reason was that the country's oil company aimed to reintegrate with the community through sports. The club started with
football before later establishing its basketball section. Petro de Luanda won its first
Angolan Basketball League in 1989, which was followed by seven more championships, as well as six
Angolan Cups, during the 1990s. During the 2000s, Petro won the league championship in 2006 and 2007 but saw arch-rivals
Primeiro de Agosto win most of the trophies this decade. On 26 November 2006, Petro de Luanda won its first-ever continental title after winning the
2006 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup in
Lagos. They beat Primeiro de Agosto in the final, and
Mílton Barros was named the tournament MVP. The 2010s were more balanced for the Angolan League in term of competition, with Petro winning the 2011, 2015 and 2019 title. On 19 December 2015, they won their second continental title after taking the
2015 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup at home in Luanda. Under head coach
Lazare Adingono, Petro defeated another Angolan team
Rec do Libolo in the final. American point guard
Manny Quezada received MVP honours. As the champions of the 2018–19 national championship, Petro qualified for the
inaugural season of the
Basketball Africa League (BAL). The BAL was a new initiate co-organised by
FIBA Africa and the
NBA. In September 2020, Petro announced the signing of Brazilian head coach
José Neto. Under Neto, a period of domination on the national level began. In the 2021–22 season, Petro won the
triple crown; winning its 15th national title, the
Angolan Cup and the Supercup. In all league games, Petro was unbeaten and had a 31–0 record including the playoffs. In the same season, Petro had another successful run in the BAL which ended with them losing the
finals to
US Monastir. Ahead of the finals, head coach
José Neto won the inaugural
BAL Coach of the Year award. In 2023, Petro de Luanda won its 14th
Angolan Cup, overtaking Primer de Agosto to become the club with the most cup titles in the country's history. In the following 2023–24 season, Petro struggled in the Kalahari Conference of the BAL with a 2–2 record. On March 20, 2024, Petro announced it had terminated its contract with José Neto, ending his four-year tenure as head coach.
Sergio Valdeolmillos was hired as the team's new coach four days later. Under Valdeolmillos, Petro recovered and on June 1, 2024, won their first-ever
BAL championship after defeating
Al Ahly Ly from Libya in the
final. In the 2024–25 season, Petro once again won the national treble. In the
2025 BAL season, they advanced to a record-extending fifth semifinal, and made it to back-to-back finals after defeating
Al Ittihad Alexandria from Egypt. Petro lost the final, however, to
Al Ahli Tripoli from Libya. ==Honours==