Italian energy major Eni has confirmed two major hydrocarbon discoveries within three days, announcing a massive gas and condensate find off Ivory Coast on Monday that analysts describe as West Africa’s most significant upstream discovery in years, followed immediately by an oil find off Angola that further cements the company’s position as Africa’s most active international driller.
The Ivory Coast discovery, named Calao South, was confirmed through the Murene South-1X exploration well in Block CI-501 and holds estimated resources of up to 140 billion cubic metres of gas and 450 million barrels of condensate, equivalent to approximately 1.4 billion barrels of oil. The find is the second largest in the country after the Baleine field, also operated by Eni. Block CI-501 is operated by Eni with a 90 percent stake in partnership with Petroci Holding, which holds the remaining 10 percent.
The well was drilled in water depths of approximately 5,000 metres and encountered high-quality Cenomanian sands with strong reservoir characteristics. Analysts at Energy Capital Power said first production could be achievable by 2028 to 2029 under an accelerated tieback scenario, using existing Baleine infrastructure to lower capital costs significantly.
Calao South complements the Baleine field development, currently producing more than 62,000 barrels of oil and over 75 million cubic feet of gas per day from its first two development phases. Phase 3 is designed to push output to 150,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day, which would make Ivory Coast a meaningful contributor to West African gas supply and domestic power generation.
The Angola discovery came one day earlier, on Sunday February 15, when Eni confirmed oil-bearing sandstones at the Algaita-01 well in Block 15/06 in the Lower Congo Basin, approximately 18 kilometres from the Olombendo floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Initial resource estimates stand at approximately 500 million barrels of oil. The well was drilled in 667 metres of water using the Saipem 12000 drillship. The proximity of the Olombendo FPSO is commercially important, as it removes the need for standalone infrastructure and materially shortens the timeline to first production.
The Angola work was executed through Azule Energy, Eni’s joint venture with BP formed in 2022, which combines the two companies’ Angolan upstream portfolios into one of the country’s largest independent operators. The discoveries support Angola’s ambition to sustain national oil output above one million barrels per day as legacy fields in Block 15/06 naturally decline.
Eni’s African strategy extends well beyond these two finds. The company plans to invest up to 24 billion euros in North African markets including Algeria, Libya and Egypt over the next four years. This month it also secured offshore exploration licence O1 in Libya following the country’s 2025 open licensing round, while Phase 2 of Congo liquefied natural gas (LNG) commenced production in December 2025.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) welcomed both discoveries, framing them as strategic milestones for continental energy security at a time when African governments are pressing for faster upstream development to support industrialisation and reduce dependence on energy imports.
