KEY POINTS
- Eni signed a new exploration license for Block CI-707 in deepwater Ivory Coast, covering nearly 3,000 sq km.
- The block sits near CI-205, home to Eni’s 2024 Calao discovery, raising hopes of further resource finds.
- Eni aims to more than double its Ivorian output as Phase 3 developments push production past 150,000 barrels a day.
Eni SpA is strengthening its presence in West Africa after signing a new exploration license with Ivory Coast’s Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, covering a vast deepwater block off the country’s coast.
The contract for Block CI-707 gives the Italian oil and gas company rights to explore an area spanning nearly 3,000 square kilometers in the Ivorian sedimentary basin. The block lies in water depths of 1,000 to 3,000 meters and will be subject to an exploration period that could stretch as long as nine years.
The block’s location is particularly strategic: it is geologically continuous with Block CI-205, where Eni announced the Calao discovery in March 2024. That find has raised expectations for further untapped reserves in the basin, and the proximity of CI-707 offers what the company described as a chance for “synergistic developments” across the two blocks.
Discovery-Led Expansion
For Eni, the new license underscores a pattern of expanding exploration rights around proven resource zones. The company is already one of the most active foreign operators in Ivory Coast, with interests in 10 offshore blocks including CI-101, CI-205, CI-401, and CI-802.
Since entering the country in 2017, Eni has steadily built up production. It currently produces more than 62,000 barrels of oil a day and around 75 million cubic feet of gas. Those figures are set to more than double once Phase 3 developments come online, boosting output to about 150,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas daily.
The Ivorian government has pitched offshore exploration as a key lever for its economic growth, aiming to position the country as a regional hub for hydrocarbon development. For Eni, the expansion also strengthens its broader West African portfolio at a time when major producers are scrambling to secure new reserves and respond to shifting global LNG demand. With CI-707 now in hand, Eni is betting that
