Côte d’Ivoire: Eni Makes Major Offshore Gas Discovery At Murene South-1X Well

Italian oil and gas major Eni has announced a significant natural gas and condensate discovery offshore Côte d’Ivoire, following the successful drilling of the Murene South-1X well, the first exploration well in Block CI-501.

The company confirmed the discovery in a statement on Monday, describing it as the country’s second-largest find after Baleine Field.

Eni has increasingly focused its exploration activities offshore Africa in recent years as it seeks to expand its natural gas portfolio and farm out minority stakes to partners and investors to accelerate development.

Named Calao South, the find confirms the broader potential of the Calao channel complex, which also includes the Calao discovery.

According to Eni, Calao ranks as the second-largest hydrocarbon discovery in the country after Baleine, with estimated resources of up to 5.0 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and 450 million barrels of condensate — equivalent to about 1.4 billion barrels of oil.

The Murene South-1X exploration well is located just southwest of the Murene-1X discovery well in the adjacent CI-205 block.

Block CI-501 is operated by Eni with a 90% stake, in partnership with Petroci Holding, which holds the remaining 10%.

Currently, the Eni-operated Baleine field produces more than 62,000 barrels of oil and over 75 million cubic feet of gas per day from Phases 1 and 2. With the launch of Phase 3, output is expected to increase to 150,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day, strengthening Baleine’s role in meeting Côte d’Ivoire’s domestic energy needs.

Eni has been active in Côte d’Ivoire since 2015 and holds interests in ten offshore exploration blocks.

In recent months, the company sold a 30% stake in the Baleine project to Vitol, the world’s largest independent oil trader, and a further 10% stake to SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan.