Chinese shipyard to build 90,000-bpd production vessel for one of West Africa's largest offshore oil developments

One of West Africa's largest offshore oil developments is set to receive a major boost after Altera Infrastructure secured a contract to deliver a giant 90,000-bpd oil production vessel for Eni's Baleine Phase 3 project offshore Côte d'Ivoire, with construction taking place in China.

Under the agreement, Chinese engineering company Wison New Energies will build a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel capable of producing 90,000 barrels of oil per day, processing 160 million standard cubic feet of natural gas daily, and storing 1.4 million barrels of crude oil.

Once completed, the vessel will be transported from China to the Baleine field, about 70 kilometres off Côte d'Ivoire's coast, where it will serve as the centrepiece of the project's final development phase.

The contract follows the final investment decision (FID) for Baleine Phase 3, which is being developed by Eni alongside Côte d'Ivoire's national oil company PETROCI and global energy trader Vitol.

Powering Côte d'Ivoire's largest-ever oil discovery