The Ministry of Petroleum of Ivory Coast has signed four new production sharing agreements (PSA) with Eni and Total for the exploration of four oil blocks, in which the companies will invest around US$185m.
The Ivory Coast currently produces less than 2 Mt/year of crude oil (1.6 Mt in 2017, corresponding to 32 kb/d) and 2.2 bcm of gas; in 2018, crude oil production averaged 40 kb/d according to preliminary statistics. The government aims to reach 200 kb/d by 2020 and is seeking to develop additional offshore reserves in the Gulf of Guinea. In 2015, it revised its oil code to attract new investors and in October 2017, it offered 22 new blocks for hydrocarbon exploration under the framework of a new licensing round.
Several companies are already conducting exploration in the country, including Tullow Oil and Total, which owns the CI-100 exploration license (45%, operator) in the offshore Tano basin and the ultra deep offshore CI-514 exploration license (90%, operator).