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. 

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 Government of Ivory Coast has held talks on its large oil and gas discovery containing significant volumes of associated natural gas and offering the potential for its energy renaissance as a West African regional hub.

Dec 21 (LNGJ) - BP of the UK and US exploration and production company Kosmos Energy, the developers of two floating LNG projects offshore the West African countries of Senegal and Mauritania, have been awarded five new blocks off the Cote d'Ivoire under an agreement with state energy company, Societe Nationale d'Operations Petroliere de Cote d'Ivoire, known as Petroci. The government said BP and Kosmos will hold 90 percent of the oil blocks in the Gulf of Guinea and Petroci would own 10 percent. The Cote d'Ivoire has recently awarded a number of licences after an international tribunal settled a dispute with neighbouring Ghana over their shared maritime boundary that had slowed exploration activities in the region.

March 23 (LNGJ) - Italian energy company Eni said it obtained majority stakes in two new exploration blocks offshore the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Eni has the highest success rate in exploration by energy majors for countries on the continent in the last several years, making big natural gas discoveries for LNG in Mozambique and pipeline gas in Egypt. The two blocks are located about 50 kilometres offshore the Ivory Coast. The two deep offshore blocks, denominated CI-101 and CI-205, are in the eastern part of the prolific Tano basin, where Eni already operates and cover a total area of about 2,850 square kilometres. Block CI-101 is at depths of between 200 metres and 2,500 metres and located in waters south of the capital Abidjan.

French energy company Total said it had now formally become the operator of the planned floating liquefied natural gas import terminal venture being developed for the West African nation of the Ivory Coast.

The West African state of the Ivory Coast has signed an agreement to create a consortium headed by French energy company Total as it moves ahead with plans for a liquefied natural gas import facility that could begin receiving cargoes by mid-2018.

BMT Group Ltd, the London-based engineering consultant, was awarded the owner’s engineer and lead design consultancy contract for the development of a liquefied natural gas storage and regasification facility in the Ivory Coast in West Africa.