Italian oil major, Eni, has sanctioned a $4 billion third phase of its Baleine offshore field in Ivory Coast, a move that will more than double the West African nation’s oil output from 60,000 to 150,000 barrels per day and cement Baleine’s status as the region’s largest recent deepwater discovery.
The expansion, sanctioned in May 2026, will be anchored by a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Chinese shipbuilder Wison New Energies has signed an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract for the vessel alongside Eni and vessel owner Altera Infrastructure, under a 15-year bareboat charter arrangement.
The FPSO is designed to process 90,000 barrels of oil and 160 million cubic feet of gas per day, with 1.4 million barrels of crude storage capacity. Construction will take place in China, with a target completion date of mid-2028 — though the consortium is actively exploring whether that schedule can be brought forward by several months.
Phases 1 and 2 of Baleine currently produce over 62,000 barrels of oil and more than 75 million cubic feet of gas per day. Phase 3 will lift gas production capacity from 80 to 200 million cubic feet per day.
All gas from the project is directed to Ivory Coast’s domestic market, supporting power generation and industrial demand — a significant contribution in a country where energy access remains a development priority.
The Baleine consortium includes Eni as operator, Vitol with a 30% interest, and Petroci — Ivory Coast’s national oil company — as a partner.
Earlier in 2026, Eni agreed to divest a 10% equity stake to SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, broadening the project’s investor base as phase 3 capital commitments ramp up.
The entry of a state energy company from outside the traditional Western investment circle reflects the widening pool of capital flowing into African upstream projects.
For Ivory Coast, the Baleine expansion represents a structural shift in its energy profile. The country has historically been a modest oil producer, but the scale of the phase 3 commitment — and the pace at which phases 1 and 2 were brought online — signals ambitions to become a more consequential exporter in the Gulf of Guinea, a sub-region that includes established producers such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Angola.
The FPSO contract award to Wison New Energies also underscores the growing role of Chinese fabrication yards in African offshore energy infrastructure, as project developers weigh cost and schedule considerations against a tightening global market for specialist vessels.
