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 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. 

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.