LNG

Côte d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara and head of Italy’s Eni announced a major offshore discovery of oil, natural and condensate with many development options for the resources.

The large discovery in block CI-205 has been named the Calao field and is the West African nation’s second-largest ever.

Eni added that only the Baleine field discovered by Eni in September 2021 was bigger.

Côte d’Ivoire President Ouattara and Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi met in the capital Abidjan on March 7 to discuss the successful results of the exploration well called Murene 1X in the Calao find.

The Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, Robert Beugré Mambé, and the Minister of Mines, Petroleum, and Energy, Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, also participated in the meeting.

Resource boost

The Côte d’Ivoire’s mainly oil production has varied significantly over the past two decades as existing fields have become depleted, closed for maintenance or development works and as new discoveries have been made but have needed further investment and development.

The nation’s regional neighbours to the north, Senegal and Mauritania, are currently developing floating LNG projects, while among its southern neighbours, Nigeria is an established world-scale LNG and oil exporting nation, while Cameroon has a small FLNG project in operation.

Additionally, Eni itself has just brought onstream an FLNG project in the Republic of Congo and the first cargo was shipped to Italy.

The countries of Africa intend to develop their oil and natural gas resources for the benefit of their citizens as Western nations have done for more than 100 years despite opposition to African hydrocarbon projects from environmental elites in the developed countries of Europe and North America.

The Calao discovery was described by Eni as a “very significant” one for the country.

Drilling operations took place about 45 kilometres (28 miles) offshore in block CI-205, reaching a depth of 5,000 metres in water depths of around 2,200 metres.

Analysis

“The well encountered light oil, gas, and condensates in various intervals of Cenomanian age characterized by good to excellent permeability values,” said Eni.

“Preliminary assessments indicate potential resources ranging between 1.0 billion and 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent,” said the Milan-based company.

Eni operates the block in partnership with the Société Nationale d'Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d'Ivoire, also known as Petroci.

President Ouattara and Eni CEO Descalzi discussed the appraisal and development plans for the discovery, including Eni’s commitment to meet the country’s domestic needs.

Eni has operated in the Côte d’Ivoire since 2015. In addition to block CI-205, Eni holds participating interests in five other blocks in Ivorian deep waters: CI-101, CI-401, CI-501, CI-801, and CI-802, all in partnership with Petroci .

Eni currently has an equity production of hydrocarbons totalling about 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Baleine field, which started production in August 2023. 

Woodside Energy, the leading liquefied natural gas operator in Western Australia, said the “Léopold Sédar Senghor” floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit had safely arrived off the West African state of Senegal for a key oil project.

“This is a significant step toward achieving first production from the Sangomar oil field which is targeted for mid-2024,” said Woodside.

The FPSO’s delivery for the Sangomar oil venture follows the arrival of an FLNG production vessel in November 2023 for a separate project run by UK major BP that will also benefit Senegal as well as its neighbour Mauritania.

Oil output nearer

The Perth-based company said that the arrival of the FPSO, named after the first President of Senegal, from Singapore to its final destination, located 100 kilometres (62 miles) offshore the Sengalese capital Dakar, marked the start of the next phase of the project.

Woodside will now help oversee the commissioning of the FPSO and the hooking up to the 23 production, gas and water injection wells that make up the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1.

Woodside Chief Executive Meg O’Neill said the Sangomar project was advancing to the company’s satisfaction.

“The FPSO arrival brings us closer to first production,” said O’Neill.

“We are proud to be Senegal’s first offshore oil project operator and firmly believe that this project will prove to be important to Senegal’s future development and prosperity,” O’Neill stated.

“In addition to developing Senegal’s energy resources, we have already begun working with the Government of Senegal, local businesses and communities to develop programs that create business opportunities, build local capabilities, foster employment opportunities, and bring broad economic benefits as a result of our operations,” O’Neill explained.

The Woodside CEO also praised the role of the Société des Pétroles du Sénégal (Petrosen),  the national oil and gas company, as a contracting partner in the venture.

The Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 includes the stand-alone FPSO with subsea infrastructure and an expected production capacity of around 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

LNG developments

Senegal is also separately involved in floating LNG joint ventures being developed by BP and Kosmos Energy along with the governments of Senegal and Mauritania in the offshore Greater Tortue Ahmeyim natural gas fields.

Seatrium Group of Singapore converted and delivered an LNG floating production vessel, the “Gimi FLNG”, to be stationed at a nearshore hub located on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border, and is expected to begin production in 2024 as part of the first phase of the FLNG venture.

The “Gimi FLNG” was converted by Seatrium in a project in partnership with Norway’s Golar LNG from a 1975-built Moss LNG carrier with a storage capacity of 125,000 cubic metres.

It is designed for 20 years of operations on-site without dry docking, with a liquefaction capacity of 2.7 million tonnes per annum and is contracted to operate near shore in 30 metres of water depth.