Côte d’Ivoire's exploration drive rebooted
Can an overhaul of concessions lure companies to the country's frontier acreage?
The acquisition of four exploration licenses by Tullow Oil in October was a boon for Côte d'Ivoire's energy ministry, which is keen to build on modest oil and gas production by reawakening interest in frontier acreage. The ministry has just finished a revision of the country's block map covering 87,000 sq km of sedimentary basin, mostly offshore. Some blocks have been redrawn to make them more attractive by amalgamating them with neighbours to increase their size. Ultra-deep-water acreage is now on offer in addition to onshore, shallow-water and deep-water blocks. The country is allocating blocks not via a bid round, but through direct negotiations—a process which its energy minister, Thierr
Also in this section
10 March 2026
By shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has cut exports of distillate-rich Middle Eastern crude, jet fuel and diesel, and is holding the energy market hostage
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
