LNG

Côte d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara has outlined plans to boost oil and natural gas output three-fold in the West African nation by 2027 when it would become a major regional energy hub.

President Ouattara told a joint session of Parliament in a major speech that more than $15 billion was expected to be invested in the country's oil and gas sector, adding that output would grow to about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2027 from 60,000 at the moment.

He said that resources had been boosted by recent oil and gas discoveries including the Baleine and Calao offshore fields and Italy and others and nations would lead the investment to help the nation on the path to economic success.

“It will be a spectacular leap,” Ouattara declared to the legislature.

The Baleine field was discovered by Italian major Eni in 2021 and production started in 2023.

National resources

The Baleine oil and gas project alone will help ensure that the population has access to energy for daily living and the surplus would strengthens the Côte d'Ivoire's position as a regional energy hub.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s regional neighbours to the North, Senegal and Mauritania, are currently developing floating LNG projects and Senegal is starting its first offshore oil project backed by Australian LNG operator Woodside Energy.

Among Côte d'Ivoire’s southern neighbours, Nigeria is an established world-scale LNG and oil exporting nation.

Ouattara said that $10 billion would be invested in developing the Baleine field and this spending was taking place in three phases through 2027.

Certified reserves of the Baleine field, discovered by the Italian energy group in 2021, are estimated at 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Eni additionally announced in March 2024 that the Calao field had been discovered with preliminary assessments indicating potential resources ranging between 1 billion barrels of oil to 1.5 billion barrels of oil. 

Another neighbour Cameroon has a small FLNG project in operation, Ghana plans LNG imports and Angola is a major oil and gas nation.

Most recently, the Eni-led FLNG project in the Republic of Congo shipped its first cargo to Italy.

African Investment surge

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 in Côte d'Ivoire is the 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.

Baleine's initial gas production is destined to boost the domestic market, strengthening access to energy for the people of Côte d'Ivoire. 

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.

Baker Hughes, the US liquefied natural gas equipment-maker and energy services company, reported solid profits as revenues increased along with orders with an LNG cycle still forecast to extend for several years.

Eni, the Italian major developing Mozambique LNG and with stakes in liquefaction plants in Angola and Nigeria, said the Mozambican Coral South floating LNG project would start up in the second half of 2022.

Eni made the point on Coral South FLNG as it reported upstream adjusted gross earnings in the first nine months of €5.7 billion ($6.6Bln).

On Coral South FLNG, Eni added that there would be 3.4 million tonnes per annum and the LNG would be entering the market at the right time.

Eni also gave a limited update on plans for the Area 4 natural gas resources in the Rovuma Basin of Mozambique.

“Regarding Area 4, the updated project and the new final investment decision date will be defined and based on the results of the ongoing optimization phase,” said Eni.

“We will also take into account the evolution of the security situation in the northern part of Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique,” it added.

This was a reference to violence in the area from insurgents that shut-down the TotalEnergies-led onshore LNG project for Mozambique’s Area 1 Rovuma Basin natural gas resources.

The third-quarter results for Milan-based Eni amounted to €2.4Bln ($2.8Bln), which was above the pre-Covid levels even as production was still ramping up after the maintenance season.

Project ramp-ups

Eni said the ramp-ups in Indonesia, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and in Angola more than offset the negative effects of US Hurricane Ida.

The company said its cash flow from operations before working capital for the nine months was strong at €8.1Bln, more than covering capital expenditure of €4Bln in the same period.

For all of 2021, Eni expects cash flow from operations before working capital to be close to €12Bln, based on a Brent crude oil price of around $70 a barrel.

Eni expects overall production to further recover in the fourth quarter at 1.76 million barrels per day.

Eni also explained the positive prospects for a discovery made in September 2021 offshore the Ivory Coast in West Africa.

“The first well discovered light oil and associated gas in a new play concept in the deep water Baleine Prospect, with preliminary estimate of more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent,” said Eni.

The company explained that the Baleine project would be designed to target fast-track development to meet the West African nation’s domestic natural gas need in an environmentally-friendly manner.

Eni said it had additionally signed an agreement with Russia’s Gazprom to revise the terms of existing long-term pipeline gas supply contracts in Europe.

“This is in the light of the current and future market evolution, including the settlement of the ongoing disputes between the parties,” explained Eni.

“The agreement underlines the importance of the role played by gas in the decarbonization process and sustainability strategies,” it 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.