Eni Approved to Start Work in Ivory Coast Oil and Gas Field

By Emmanuel Tumanjong

Special to Dow Jones Newswires

Italian company Eni has authorization to start works in the Ivory Coast Baleine--or Whale--oil and gas field in the second half of the year, according to a government statement read on state-run Radio Television Ivoirienne on Friday.

Work should start with the drilling of eight wells and the first production is expected by the end of February 2025, it said.

The authorisation gives the joint venture between ENI and Ivory Coast's state-run partner Petroci Holding xclusive rights to develop of the Whale Oil and Gas Field in block CI-802, which is an extension to the deposit in block CI-101, which ENI discovered in August 2021 Amadou Coulibaly, government Minister and spokesman, said.

This discovery increased the initial reserve estimates for the deposits by 25% for crude oil, from 2 billion barrels to 2.5 billion barrels, and by 38% for natural gas, from 2,400 billion cubic feet to 3,300 billion cubic feet, Coulibaly said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 09, 2023 11:18 ET (15:18 GMT)

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