LNG

Côte d'Ivoire has celebrated the ramp-up of the Baleine oil and gas field as part of a world-class hub of oil, pipeline natural gas and LNG exports and imports being built out to improve economic prosperity in West Africa from Mauritania in the North to Angola in the South.

The President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, and Claudio Descalzi, the Chief Executive of Italian major Eni, met in the African nation’s economic capital, Abidjan, to mark the production ramp-up at the Baleine field.

The Baleine project is offshore block CI-101 and is believed to hold up to 2.0 billion barrels of oil in place and 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas located at water depth of 1,200 metres.

Largest discovery

Baleine was discovered in 2021 as the largest commercial discovery in the country in the last 20 years and is now set to contribute substantially to energy production in the Côte d'Ivoire after starting production in September.

The Côte d'Ivoire’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, Ghana plans LNG imports and Angola is a major oil and gas nation.

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.

Eni’s partner in the Baleine project and other ventures is the African nation's state energy company, Société Nationale d'Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d'Ivoire (Petroci).

In addition to the CI-101 block, Eni owns stakes in four other blocks in the Ivorian deepwater. They are CI-205, CI-501, CI-504 and CI-802, all with the same partner Petroci.

Output

“Oil production from Baleine stands at 20,000 barrels per day, far exceeding the initial anticipated 12,000 barrels per day,” Eni explained.

“The project is set to reach its plateau of 50,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of 2024. Upon completion of the second development phase and full field development it is then  expected to enable the production of up to 150,000 barrels per day,” Eni added.

“Baleine's gas production is entirely destined for the domestic market, strengthening access to energy in Côte d'Ivoire,” stated the Milan-based company.

Eni said that the meeting between President Ouattara and CEO Descalzi covered other initiatives that Eni is carrying out to advance economic diversification in addition to contributing to the country's energy needs and prosperity.

Bio-refineries

“Among these, it is worth mentioning the production of vegetable oil to supply Eni’s bio-refineries, an operation that recently began in Côte d'Ivoire and which leverages waste from rubber production,” CEO Descalzi explained.

“This project will feed our bio-refineries with sustainable feedstock, while at the same time integrating Côte d'Ivoire in the value chain of biofuels, generating a positive impact for the families of local farmers with whom we collaborate through long-term agreements,” Descalzi stated.

“This initiative offers additional income for 100,000 families that have already joined the program,” he added.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) through its Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) has invested in Ecow-Gas BV, a Netherlands-based infrastructure development company with plans to build and operate a number of new LNG facilities in West Africa.

French classification society Bureau Veritas has granted operational mode for the Torman LNG floating regasification unit (FRU) at Tema port in Ghana, opening the way for the West African nation to become an LNG importer.

The unit is combined with a floating storage unit (FSU) for the delivery of gas to onshore consumers.

Jiangnan Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp., built the FRU and the vessel left the Chinese yard at the end of November 2020 for the voyage to African waters for deployment.

A venture called Access LNG comprising Helios Investment Partners, a leading Africa focused private investment firm, and Gasfin Development, an LNG infrastructure company, is developing the facility.

Gasfin has led the design of the project and the fabrication of the floating infrastructure with capacity to deliver 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

The Tema project is designed around the FRU working in conjunction with an upgraded 127,500 cubic metres capacity LNG carrier, which will act as floating storage, to deliver 250 million standard cubic feet per day of gas.

“This exciting development of Gasfin’s facility, involving the Torman LNG FRU and a Moss-type LNG floating storage unit (FSU), both classed by Bureau Veritas, paves the way for the first deliveries of LNG to a terminal in sub-Saharan Africa,” declared Bureau Veritas.

“The project will contribute to meeting Ghana’s growing cleaner energy demand,” said the French class society.

“The volume that Ghana National Petroleum Corp. (GNPC) will be taking is equivalent to circa 1,300 megawatts of combined cycle power plant capacity,” it added.

The 95-metre long, newly built FRU has been fitted with two IMO type-C tanks and has a storage capacity of 28,000 cubic metres.

The LNG FRU is designed for an operational life of approximately 20 years.

Helios established Tema LNG Terminal Co. (TLTC) to develop, construct and operate sub-Saharan Africa’s first LNG import terminal.

The companies involved now say that the Tema LNG terminal venture has achieved mechanical completion and the first LNG delivery should not be far off.

The classification and certification scope, successfully conducted by Bureau Veritas, included the design, review, approval, material certification, and construction surveys of the LNG FRU at the Jiangnan shipyard, as well as in Tema port.

During the unit’s service years, Bureau Veritas will be supporting Gasfin’s management, reassuring stakeholders of the structural soundness of the unit and its safety, through regular conformity checks under classification rules and international standards.

“This is a great achievement for all the teams involved,” said Kerem Kiper, Vice President for the Middle East, Africa, and India at Bureau Veritas.

“This project proves that alternative solutions to produce and store electricity are available,” he added.

“It opens up new opportunities in Africa for LNG floating units. I am proud of the BV team as we continue to demonstrate our expertise across the LNG value chain,” stated Kiper.

Italian energy company Eni has started natural gas production from the Sankofa gas field offshore Ghana as the West Africa nation still awaits firm progress on one of the various LNG import projects it has been involved in to meet its growing energy needs.