By Ikenna Omeje

The President  of Cote d’Ivoire Alassane Ouattara and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, on Thursday, met in Abidjan  to celebrate production start-up from the Baleine Field.

Ouattara and Descalzi also  reviewed Eni’s activities in the country.

Located off the eastern coast of Cote d’Ivoire, Eni and its partner Petroci  initiated production from Baleine Field  in August this year, achieving a time-to-market of less than two years from the giant discovery.

“Oil production from Baleine stands at 20,000 bbl/d, far exceeding the initial anticipated 12,000 bbl/d. The project is set to reach its plateau of 50,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of 2024, upon completion of the second development phase; full field development is expected to enable the production of up to 150,000 bbl/d. Baleine’s gas production is entirely destined to the domestic market, strengthening access to energy in Cote d’Ivoire. Furthermore, the project is the first Net-Zero (Scope 1 and 2) development in Africa,” Eni said in a statement.

Eni has introduced several initiatives aimed at driving economic diversification in Cote d’Ivoire. One of these initiatives is the production of vegetable oil to supply Eni’s biorefineries.

“The meeting was also the occasion to discuss the initiatives that Eni is carrying out to trigger economic diversification, in addition to contributing to the Country’s energy needs. Among these, it is worth mentioning the production of vegetable oil to supply Eni’s biorefineries, an operation that recently began in Cote d’Ivoire and which leverages waste from rubber production. Based on an agreement with the Federation of Hevea Producers of Cote d’Ivoire, this initiative offers additional income for 100,000 families that have already joined the program.

“The entire supply chain meets the requirements of traceability and of respect of environmental and human rights; the vegetable oil has been certified, for the first time in the world, according to the ISCC-EU sustainability scheme,” the statement stated.

The startup of vegetable oil production by the company in Cote d’Ivoire follows that of Kenya in 2022. Other agri-feedstock projects are being developed in Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Rwanda, Italy, Kazakhstan, and Southeast Asia.

“With the start of vegetable oil production in Cote d’Ivoire we achieve a milestone fully in line with our decarbonization strategy. This project will feed our biorefineries with sustainable feedstock, while at the same time integrating Cote d’Ivoire in the value chain of biofuels, generating a positive impact on the families of local farmers with whom we collaborate through long-term agreements”  Descalzi was quoted as saying.

Eni, which has been operating in Côte d’Ivoire since 2015, owns interests in four blocks in the Ivorian deepwater: CI-205, CI-504, CI-401 and CI-801, all with the same partner Petroci Holding.  This is in addition to blocks CI-101 and CI-802, on which the Baleine Field extends.