Eni SpA said Monday it had made a “significant” natural gas and condensate discovery in the waters of Côte d’Ivoire through the first exploration well in Block CI-501.
Calao South, or the Murene South-1X well, reinforces the Calao channel complex as the West African country’s second-biggest proven hydrocarbon site after the producing Baleine field, according to energy major Eni. In the adjacent CI-205 block, the Italian state-backed company discovered Calao (Murene-1X) in 2024, declaring it the second-largest fossil fuel discovery in the Ivory Coast with preliminary estimates of 1-1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
“The discovery, named Calao South, confirms the potential of the Calao channel complex that includes also the Calao discovery and represents the second largest in the country after Baleine, with estimated volumes of up to 5.0 Tcf [trillion cubic feet] of gas and 450 million barrels of condensate (approximately 1.4 billion barrels of oil)”, Eni said in an online statement Monday. “The discovery was made in high-quality Cenomanian sands”.
Murene South-1X “confirmed the main hydrocarbon bearing interval with a gross thickness of around 50 meters [164.04 feet], with excellent petrophysical properties”, Eni said. “Murene South-1X will undergo a full conventional drill stem test (DST) to assess the production capacity of the Calao discovery”.
The Saipem Santorini drilling ship reached a total depth of around 5,000 meters in waters 2,200 meters deep, it said. Calao South sits about eight kilometers southwest of Calao, according to Eni.
Eni operates Block CI-501 with a 90 percent stake. Côte d’Ivoire’s state-owned Petroci Holding holds 10 percent.
Besides CI-501 and CI-205, Eni owns stakes in eight other Ivorian exploration blocks. Eni and Petroci are partners in CI-504, CI-526, CI-706, CI-707 and CI-708. Eni has also partnered with Petroci and energy trader Vitol Group in CI-401, CI-801, CI-802 and Baleine AEE.