Azerbaijan delegation discusses Baleine oil and gas project as SOCAR expands into Côte d’Ivoire

A high-level delegation from Azerbaijan, including officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and state oil company SOCAR, has visited Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire for talks centred on possible cooperation in the energy sector, including joint oil and gas projects, investment prospects and energy security.

The group, led by Deputy Minister Yalchin Rafiyev, held several meetings with senior officials from Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the energy sector. He was accompanied by several ministry officials and SOCAR’s executives, including the company’s president, Rovshan Najaf, Trend News Agency (Azerbaijan) reported.

The talks with officials from Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Mines, Oil and Energy, the Directorate General for Hydrocarbons and the national oil company PETROCI included a detailed exchange of views on SOCAR’s acquisition of a 10% stake in the development of the Baleine oil and gas field. On January 22, the company signed a binding agreement to buy the stake in the Baleine offshore project from Italy’s integrated energy company Eni (BIT:ENI, NYSE:E).

Participants reviewed different stages of the project’s development, expected production capacity, logistics arrangements and key commercial considerations, Trend said. The talks also underscored the project’s strategic importance, particularly for expanding SOCAR’s presence in Africa and strengthening the company’s role in international energy markets.

Discovered in 2021 and brought into production in 2023, Baleine is considered one of the largest offshore oil and gas finds in West Africa in recent years. Preliminary estimates put discovered resources at 2bn barrels of oil and 68bn cubic metres (bcm) of associated gas, as reported by bne Intellinews.

Production from phases one and two currently exceeds 62,000 barrels of oil per day and about 75mn cubic feet (mmcf) of natural gas per day, equivalent to about 2.1mn cubic metres (mcm) per day. Following the launch of phase three, output is expected to rise to around 150,000 barrels per day of oil and approximately 200 mmcf (about 5.7 mcm) of gas per day.

The Ivorian main offshore development is operated by Eni (47.25%), and participated by Vitol (30%) and PETROCI (22.75%). The closing of Eni’s transaction with SOCAR is subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and other customary terms and conditions.