Eni announces significant hydrocarbon discovery offshore Côte d'Ivoire

Italian integrated energy company Eni (BIT:ENI, NYSE:E) on February 16 announced a significant gas and condensate discovery in Côte d'Ivoire. The find was made at Murene South-1X, the first exploration well in Block CI-501 within the major Calao channel complex.

“The discovery, named Calao South, confirms the potential of the Calao channel complex that includes also the Calao discovery and represents the second largest in the country after Baleine, with estimated volumes of up to 5.0 trillion cubic feet [roughly 142 bcm] of gas and 450 million barrels of condensate (approximately 1.4 billion barrels of oil),” Eni said in a press release.

According to the company, the discovery was made in high-quality Cenomanian sands. The Murene South-1X well was drilled by Saipem’s (BIT:SPM) Santorini drillship to a total depth of 5,000 metres in water depth of 2,200 metres following an extensive data acquisition campaign.

Murene South-1X confirmed the main hydrocarbon-bearing interval with a gross thickness of around 50 metres, with excellent petrophysical properties, Eni said in the statement. The new find in Block CI-501, operated by Eni (90%) in partnership with Côte d'Ivoire’s national oil company PETROCI Holding (10%), is located approximately 8km southwest of the Murene-1X discovery in the adjacent Eni-operated Block CI-205.

The Murene South-1X exploration well will undergo a full conventional drill stem test (DST) to assess the production capacity of the Calao discovery, Eni’s statement said.

The Italian energy giant has been active in Côte d’Ivoire since 2015. In addition to block CI-501, the company holds interests in nine other exploration blocks: CI-205, CI-504, CI-526, CI-706, CI-707, CI-708, in partnership with PETROCI Holding, and CI-401, CI-801, CI-802 and Baleine AEE (in partnership with PETROCI Holding, global independent energy trader Vitol and Azerbaijan’s national oil company SOCAR (KRX: 403550), subject to governmental approvals).

Importantly, Calao South adds to the resource base established by the fast-tracked Baleine field development operated by Eni. Currently, the Baleine field produces over 62,000 barrels of oil and more than 75mn cubic feet (mmcf) of gas per day, equivalent to approximately 2.1mn cubic metres (mcm) of gas per day, from Phases 1 and 2. With the launch of Phase 3, production is expected to rise to 150,000 barrels of oil and 200 mmcf (5.7 mcm) of gas per day, reinforcing Baleine as a key asset in meeting Côte d’Ivoire’s domestic energy needs.

According to the African Energy Chamber (AEC), the phased development model at the Baleine field demonstrates how exploration success can be rapidly converted into production to support domestic power generation and industrial demand while boosting export capacity.

“For emerging producers such as Ivory Coast, discoveries of this scale fast-track energy independence and domestic gas-to-power expansion,” the AEC said on February 17, commenting on Eni’s recent exploration successes in Africa. “As the company advances appraisal, testing and development planning, these discoveries have the potential to catalyse a new wave of upstream momentum across Africa’s hydrocarbon market.”