As major oil companies return to offshore exploration, West Africa’s deep waters have become a key drilling target for some of the biggest international companies.
Ivory Coast and Namibia have been the most promising exploration areas in recent years, generating major oil and gas discoveries.
Although Namibia has not yet started its own crude oil production, Ivory Coast has been producing crude oil for years and is expected to triple its production by 2027, thanks to recent offshore oil and gas discoveries.
Ivory Coast hopes to increase its oil production to 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2027, up from around 60,000 bpd currently, the West African country’s president Alassane Ouattara said. The country hopes to attract US$15 billion in investment in its oil and gas sector and become a regional oil and gas hub.
The most active major oil company in Côte d’Ivoire is Italy’s Eni, which has made two significant discoveries since 2021 and started production on one of them just two years after discovering oil.
In August 2023, Eni began oil and gas production from the Baleine field offshore Côte d’Ivoire, less than two years after the discovery in September 2021 and less than a year and a half after the Final Investment Decision (FID) . According to the Italian group, Baleine is the first Scope 1 and 2 emission-free production project in Africa.
The initial phase of production is occurring through a refurbished and upgraded floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit capable of handling up to 15,000 bpd and around 25 Mscf/d of associated gas.
All natural gas from the field will go to the Ivorian domestic market via a new pipeline to the coast.
A few months after announcing the start of operation of the Baleine field, Eni said in March this year that it had made another offshore oil discovery, called Calao, in Côte d’Ivoire.
The exploration well encountered light oil, gas and condensates characterized by good to excellent permeability values, while preliminary assessments indicate potential resources ranging between 1 billion and 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Calao is the second largest discovery in Côte d’Ivoire, after the Baleine field, discovered by Eni in September 2021, the Italian company said.
If Eni can accelerate the development of Calao as it did with Baleine, the West African country could further increase its oil and gas production.
The producing Baobab offshore field in Ivory Coast has recently attracted the attention of Houston-based Vaalco Energy, which earlier this year acquired Svenska Petroleum Exploration, a private Swedish company whose main asset is an unoperated operating stake in 27.39% at Baobab.
Further south of Côte d’Ivoire, along the coast of West Africa, is Namibia, considered the next most valued oil production point in the world and could replicate Guyana’s success.
Wood Mackenzie estimates that Namibia’s oil economy can be robust, with the net present value (NPV) remaining positive even with oil prices as low as US$40 per barrel.
TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy are also expanding their efforts to explore oil and gas in the Orange Basin, acquiring a license nearby in the basin, in South African waters.
Ivory Coast, Namibia and South Africa have become the supermajors’ new targets for offshore exploration and production.
2024-06-24 10:39:54