The FPSO Firenze has departed Dubai and set course for the Baleine field offshore Côte d'Ivoire. Partners Eni and PetroCi bid farewell to the FPSO together with Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy Côte of d'Ivoire, and other dignitaries.
The FPSO Firenze will allow production start-up of the Baleine field, which is the largest hydrocarbon discovery in Côte d'Ivoire to date, with an estimated oil in place of 2.5 billion barrels and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of associated gas, Eni said in a company statement. The development of Baleine will also be Africa's first net-zero emission project (Scope 1 and 2), the company said.
The FPSO Firenze, that will be renamed Baleine after its arrival in Cote d’Ivoire, has been refurbished and upgraded in order to allow it to treat up to 15,000 bbl/d of oil and around 25 Mcfd/d of associated gas, the statement reads.
Eni further said that the entire gas production will be delivered onshore via a newly built export pipeline. The installation of the subsea production system and well completion campaign are underway and will ensure an accelerated start-up of production by June 2023, according to the company.
Eni's phased development model and fast track is said to have been proven as effective, as the project is set to start production less than two years from the Baleine 1X discovery well and one and a half years after the FID. Eni is already progressing swiftly on the second phase of the project, forecasting a start-up of production by December 2024 after having taken the FID in December 2022.
The company looks forward to contributing to the development of Côte d'Ivoire's hydrocarbon industry with the Baleine field and its other projects in the Ivorian deep water, it said.
The Baleine field extends over blocks CI-101 and CI-802. Eni also owns interests in four other blocks in the Ivorian deep water: CI-205, CI-501, CI-401, and CI-801, all with the same partner, PetroCi Holding.
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