A large oil field was discovered in Côte d’Ivoire with reserves of about 2 billion barrels.
According to the Minister of Mining and Energy of Côte d’Ivoire, Thomas Camara, the oil field was discovered by a consortium of the national company Petroci and the Italian company Eni.
The field reserves are about 2 billion barrels of crude oil and 2.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
This discovery will significantly increase oil and gas production in Côte d’Ivoire, the report says.
Oil production in Ivory Coast, which stood at 3.3 million barrels last year, has dropped 22.2 percent this year and stood at 2.6 million barrels as of April, according to the latest official figures.
In total, there are 51 oil fields in the country, of which 4 are in operation, 26 are at the exploration stage, and 21 are at the negotiation stage.
The country’s authorities are actively taking incentive measures to increase the production of “black gold”.
In 2015, Côte d’Ivoire’s oil legislation was amended to bring more foreign companies into the production process.
The country’s oil fields are mainly located on the high seas, on the border with Ghana.