ENI Announces Major Hydrocarbon Discovery at South Calao Off Côte d’Ivoire
In a statement released on 16 February 2026, ENI announced that it had made a major discovery of hydrocarbons at South Calao in the Gulf of Guinea, off the shore of Côte d’Ivoire.
The discovery occurred in CI-501 block, not far from Poject Whal， holds 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, split into 5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 450 million barrels of liquid hydrocarbon condensates. Two years ago, a similar discovery was made at Calao with reserves estimated at 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3 trillion cubic feet of gas under Project Whale.
(Source: Wellingence)
ENI is partnering with local firm Petroci to exploit these new oil deposits. Previously, ENI announced discoveries in 2021, 2022, and 2024. The cumulative discoveries now reach 6 billion barrels of crude oil.
Today, the production of oil in Côte d’Ivoire is about 60,000 barrels per day (bpd). Thanks to this new discovery, Cote d’Ivoire is aiming to bring up the daily production of oil up to 300,000 barrels per day and of gas up to 500 million cubic feet by 2030. Then, Cote d’Ivoire will play in the same league as the big boys — such as Nigeria, Angola, and Libya — in the oil and gas industry in Africa.
“It is a significant discovery which will increase the production capacity of the Project Whale. We always held high hopes to find more oil and gas after the previous success. We now have proof of what we believed a few years ago.”
BGN DG Charles Thiemele
After drilling at a depth of more than 5,000 meters, ENI hit light crude and natural gas condensates. Compared to some years back, oil companies now have access to technologies that make extraction at high depths economically viable.
Not content to be a crude oil producer, the Cote d’Ivoire is doubling down to build up refining capacity domestically, and even ambitions to be a supplier of petroleum in the region and beyond. It is to be recalled that back in January 2025, the Government of Cote d’Ivoire signed a partnership agreement with American firm Yaatra to build a second refinery plant, requiring a Foreign Direct Investment of USD 5.1 billion.