Eni Starts Baleine Phase 2 Production, To Peak At 60Kbd Of Oil Off Côte D’Ivoire

By Sully Manope in Lagos

Italian major ENI reports it has started production of the second of its planned three phase production of oil and gas from the Baleine field in deepwater off Côte d’Ivoire’s offshore.

The company expects to reach 60,000 barrels of oil and 70Million cubic feet of associated gas per day (60,000BOPD & 70MMscf/d) from the accumulation in this phase, which was commissioned on December 29, 2024.

All that gas is meant to be utilized in Côte d’Ivoire’s economy; none of the molecules will be exported, according to the plan.

This is a leap from the output of 15,000BOPD of oil and around 25MMscf/d of associated gas in Phase 1.

The final and most ambitious phase is expected to take crude oil output to 150,000BOPD and gas production to 200MMscf/d by 2027. Neither ENI, nor the Ivorian government has disclosed whether some of the 200MMscf/d in Phase 3, will be exported.

“Phase 2 will see the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Unit (FPSO) Petrojarl Kong deployed alongside the Floating Storage and Offloading Unit (FSO) Yamoussoukro for the export of oil, while 100% of the processed gas will supply the local energy demand through the connection with the pipeline built during the project’s Phase 1”, ENI says in a statement.

The Baleine field was discovered in September 2021, in 1,200metre water depth.

The Final Investment Decision for the project was taken in December 2022; “Phase 1 was started in August 2023; in parallel, activities for Phase 2 had been carried and completed in full safety”, ENI reports.

ENI claims that “Baleine is the first net zero emission upstream project (Scope 1 and 2) in Africa, made possible through the adoption of advanced technologies, which minimize the operations’ carbon footprint, and innovative initiatives developed in close collaboration with the Ivorian ministries”

ENI has been present in Côte d’Ivoire since 2015 with a current equity production of around 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company operates 10 blocks in the Ivorian deepwaters (CI-101, CI-205, CI-401, CI-501, CI-801, CI-802, CI-504, CI-526, CI-706 and CI-708) in partnership with Petroci Holding.