Italian oil and gas major, Eni has discovered a major oil and natural gas reservoir offshore Ivory Coast.

Ivorian Energy Minister Thomas Camara, who disclosed this, said the reservoir could hold 1.5 to 2 billion barrels of oil and around 51 million cubic metres of natural gas.

“The find will greatly increase Cote d’Ivoire’s proven reserves as well as its oil and gas production in the coming years,” Thomas Camara said as quoted by AFP.

Eni, which drilled a 3,445-metre-deep well about 60 kilometres off the coast, said it would carry out a further evaluation of the wider potential of the find.

To date, Cote d’Ivoire has 51 identified oilfields, most of them offshore near the border with Ghana.

Four are in production, 26 in exploration and 21 are still open.

The country increased its oil production in 2019 by 12 percent to reach 36,000 barrels daily.

It signed contracts in 2019 with Eni and the French oil giant, Total, to explore the possibility of increasing its oil production.

Total, Eni and other international oil companies, notably British firm Tullow Oil, announced significant discoveries of Ivorian offshore oil reserves in recent years.

Source: energynewsafrica.com