U.S.-based Murphy Oil has made a fresh offshore oil discovery in Côte d’Ivoire, adding momentum to the West African nation’s push to become one of the continent’s leading hydrocarbon producers by 2035.
The company said its Bubale-1X exploration well in Block CI-709 encountered 100 feet, or about 30 metres, of net oil pay across two reservoirs. Early assessment indicates the presence of high-quality light crude.
The well was drilled about 40 miles offshore Côte d’Ivoire to a total depth of 20,548 feet, in water depths of 7,795 feet. It was operated by Murphy CI-709 Oil Co., a subsidiary of Murphy Oil, which holds a 90% working interest in the block. State-owned PETROCI holds the remaining 10%.
The discovery is significant because it comes after two earlier wells in Murphy’s current Côte d’Ivoire drilling campaign failed to deliver commercial success.
In January, the company drilled the Civette-1X well on Block CI-502, which confirmed the presence of oil and gas but did not meet the economic threshold for development.
