Ivory Coast’s Foxtrot International will partner with GDF Suez and Ivory Coast’s national oil company, Petroci, to invest around $1 billion to boost offshore production in the country, the company said.
The investments will go towards drilling seven new wells and build a new gas platform in Foxtrot’s Marlin gas field, which is expected to go on-line next year. According to Reuters, Ivory Coast’s gas output was around 220 million cubic feet of gas per day last year. The government is targeting production of around 250 million cubic feet per day this year.
Foxtrot, partly owned by the French industrial group Bouygues, says it expects to secure natural gas production for the next decade with a series of new offshore wells it will begin drilling next year.
Ivory Coast, the largest economy among West African francophone countries, relies on thermal power stations fuelled by natural gas which, it is feared, may soon fall short of supply. It has invested heavily to boost power production in order to keep up with the rapid GDP growth that has accompanied its return to stability following a civil war in 2011.
“The drilling will start in July and will last 400 days,” Reuters quotes Christian Sage, Foxtrot’s managing director. “We are currently producing 140 million cubic feet per day. With this investment, we will secure production for at least 10 years.”
“We have large investments that will start to materialise in Ivory Coast, for which we will bring in platforms that will begin to arrive in November,” said Bouygues Deputy CEO Olivier Bouygues.
Ivory Coast says it aims to boost power output by 80 percent over six years to satisfy growing domestic and regional demand. It currently exports electricity to Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and Mali with plans underway to connect Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone to its grid as well.
Source: Ventures Africa
