Eni makes Calao South discovery offshore Ivory Coast

Calao South, the second largest discovery in the country, confirms the potential of the Calao channel complex that also includes the Calao discovery, Eni said.
Feb. 16, 2026

Key Highlights

  • Eni discovered gas and condensate in the Murene South-1X exploration offshore Ivory Coast. 
  • Calao South confirms the potential of the Calao channel complex.

Eni SPA discovered gas and condensate in the Murene South-1X exploration well in Block CI-501, Ivory Coast.

The well is the first exploration in the block and was drilled by the Saipem Santorini drilling ship about 8 km southwest of the Murene-1X discovery well in adjacent CI-205 block. The well was drilled to about 5,000 m TD in 2,200 m of water.

Extensive data acquisition confirmed a main hydrocarbon bearing interval in high-quality Cenomanian sands with a gross thickness of about 50 m with excellent petrophysical properties, the operator said. Murene South-1X will undergo a full conventional drill stem test (DST) to assess the production capacity of this discovery, named Calao South.

Calao South confirms the potential of the Calao channel complex that also includes the Calao discovery. It is the second largest discovery in the country after Baleine, with estimated volumes of up to 5.0 tcf of gas and 450 million bbl of condensate (about 1.4 billion bbl of oil).

Eni is operator of Block CI-501 (90%) with partner Petroci Holding (10%).

About the Author

Alex Procyk

Upstream Editor

Alex Procyk is Upstream Editor at Oil & Gas Journal. He has also served as a principal technical professional at Halliburton and as a completion engineer at ConocoPhillips. He holds a BS in chemistry (1987) from Kent State University and a PhD in chemistry (1992) from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

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