The President of the Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara met today in Abidjan the CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzi, to take stock of the company's activities in the country, future projects and areas of common interest and collaboration. The meeting was also attended by the Secretary General of the Presidency Abdourahmane Cissé and the Minister of Mines, Oil and Energy Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly.
Descalzi explained to the President the ongoing development of Baleine, the discovery of hydrocarbons carried out by Eni in the country's offshore, which will be the first Net Zero development (scope 1 and Scope 2) in Africa. The positive results of the recently drilled Baleine E1X well, in addition to confirming the extension of the discovery in the adjacent block (CI-802, Eni operator, Petroci 10%), bring the volumes of hydrocarbons in place to over 2,5 billion barrels of oil and about 100 billion cubic meters of associated gas, increasing initial valuations by 25%.
The production test carried out on the well, in addition to confirming the production potential of at least 12.000 bbl / d, allows to optimize the further development phases of the field, through the implementation of a second phase under study, and to increase the production level up to about 150 thousand barrels of oil / day and 6 million cubic meters of gas / day in the final development of the discovery.
The start of production of the first phase of Baleine is confirmed in the first half of 2023, just 18 months after its discovery.
President Ouattara and CEO Descalzi also discussed the numerous initiatives that Eni is developing to offset the emissions from the Baleine field. These include an extensive program for the distribution of improved cookers - produced in the country, with direct local economic impacts - which began in June 2022 with an impact on 400,000 beneficiaries, and projects for the conservation, restoration and management of forests and savannas, as part of the of the REDD + scheme. These projects are based on the Agreement signed yesterday with the Ivorian Ministry of Water and Forests and are currently being defined on an area of 377.000 hectares. All carbon offsetting projects are designed and developed in order to provide significant positive environmental, social and economic impacts for local communities
Descalzi also updated the President on local content and on ongoing capacity building initiatives to train highly qualified personnel and encourage the transfer of knowledge and technologies, within the framework of the MoU signed in December 2021. The initiative will involve 400 managers and technicians.
Finally, the parties agreed to define joint initiatives in the agro-industrial chain, for use in biorefining.
Eni has been operating in the Ivory Coast through its subsidiary Eni Côte d'Ivoire Limited since 2015. In addition to the CI-101 and CI-802 blocks, on which the Baleine field extends, Eni owns interests in another five deep-water blocks Ivory Coast: CI-205, CI-501, CI-504, CI-401 and CI-801, all with the same partner Petroci Holding. These recent exploration activities mark the company's return to the country; Eni was active in the upstream and downstream sectors of the Ivory Coast in the 60s and 80s.