Eni SPA has begun oil and gas production on the Baleine Field offshore Cote d’Ivoire, less than two years after its discovery in September 2021.
For the first phase of the project, Eni will use the refurbished and upgraded Baleine floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit, which is capable of handling up to 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and around 25,000 standard cubic feet per day (scfpd) of associated gas, the company said in a news release Monday.
Eni expects the start of the second phase by the end of 2024 and plans to increase production to 50,000 bpd of oil and approximately 70,000 scfpd of associated gas. For the third phase, Eni targets the production of 150,000 bpd of oil and 200,000 scfpd of gas, according to the release. Gas production will be delivered onshore through a newly constructed pipeline.
The Baleine field is the largest hydrocarbon discovery to date in the Ivorian sedimentary basin, and the project marks the first Scope 1 and 2 emissions-free production project in Africa, Eni said.
“The first oil from Baleine is a milestone in Eni’s operations”, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said. “Stemming from an extraordinary exploration success, we have achieved an industry-leading time-to-market of under two years from the declaration of commercial discovery. This outcome expresses the core principles of our strategy, encompassing Africa’s pioneering net-zero project, accelerated development, local gas supply, and the promotion of a just transition.”
The project’s residual emissions are offset through initiatives developed within the country, including a program started in 2022 for supplying and distributing improved stoves to local communities that eliminates the need for wood or coal for cooking, Eni said. The company said it has also launched studies for nature-based solution projects covering 380,000 hectares of protected forests.
In Cote d’Ivoire, Eni and partner Petroci Holding hold interests in the CI-101 and CI-802 blocks, where the Baleine field extends, as well as in four other deepwater Ivorian blocks: CI-205, CI-501, CI-401, and CI-801, according to the release.
In September 2021, Eni drilled the NFW Baleine 1X well, located in Block CI-101, about 31 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast of Abidjan at a water depth of about 3.937 feet (1,200 meters), where it made a significant oil and associated gas discovery of a potential 3.3 trillion cubic feet of associated gas. The discovery also extended to Block CI-802, where the company successfully drilled a well in August 2022, according to the company website.
Offshore Wind Energy JV
In a separate news release, offshore wind company Vargronn, a joint venture between Eni’s benefit corporation Plenitude and HitecVision, and the Irish renewable-focused integrated utility Energia Group announced a partnership to develop offshore wind projects in Ireland with the potential to deliver a total capacity of up to 1.8 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.
The partnership will initially focus on the development of two sites, located in the Northern Celtic Sea and the Southern Irish Sea, with a capacity of up to 900 megawatts each, the release said.
“This agreement allows us to further consolidate Plenitude’s presence in a strategic sector as the wind offshore, thanks to new promising joint venture projects off the Irish coast”, Plenitude CEO Stefano Goberti said. “In line with Plenitude’s target to reach 15 GW installed renewable capacity worldwide within 2030, we confirm, through our share in Vargronn, the commitment in expanding our offshore wind pipeline in Northern Europe.”
Plenitude is Eni’s benefit corporation that is focused on integrating production from renewables, the sale of energy services, and a large network of electric vehicle charging points. The company’s objective is to reach over seven GW of installed capacity by 2026 and achieve net zero Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon dioxide emissions by 2040, according to the release.
Eni has begun oil and gas production on the Baleine Field less than two years after its discovery.