
Renson Mwakandana & Ekeomah Atuonwu
On Thursday, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 🇨🇮announced that Italian company Eni had made a new offshore oil and natural gas discovery, increasing the potential of deposits discovered the previous year by 25%.
It said in a statement it had found light oil in block CI-101, adding there could be 1.5-2.0 billion barrels of oil in place and 1.8-2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas.
“An evaluation program will be carried out to assess the significant upside potential of the overall structure that extends into block CI-802, also operated by Eni,” the company said.
The nation had reported the discovery of resources in September 2021 that were thought to contain between 1.5 and 2 billion barrels of oil and roughly 1.8-2.4 trillion cubic feet (51-68 million cubic meters) of gas.

The nation reported the discovery of resources in September 2021 that were thought to contain between 1.5 and 2 billion barrels of oil and around 1.8-2.4 trillion cubic feet (51-68 million cubic meters) of gas.
The ministry of mining, oil, and energy stated in a statement that the most recent find off the eastern coast “increases by about 25%” of the previously revealed resources. Extraction is scheduled to begin in early 2023.
According to President Alassane Ouattara, Cote d’Ivoire should become a significant oil producer. The country of West Africa now produces a meager 30,000 barrels per day.

International companies including French giant Total and Britain’s Tullow Oil have also announced significant discoveries of Ivorian offshore oil reserves in recent years.