Eni looking to rebalance portfolio by divesting stakes in West African assets to Vitol for $1.65B

Italy’s energy giant Eni has reached an agreement with energy and commodities company Vitol to sell partial interests in certain assets it owns offshore Côte d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo.

Under the deal, Vitol is set to acquire an interest in oil and gas-producing assets and blocks undergoing exploration, appraisal, and development. More specifically, the energy player is looking to buy a 30% participating interest from Eni’s 77.25% ownership interest in the Baleine project in Côte d’Ivoire, and a 25% participating interest from Eni’s 65% participating interest in Congo LNG in the Republic of Congo.

The duo hopes to conclude the sale and purchase agreements for an aggregate consideration of $1.65 billion as soon as possible. The completion will be subject to conditions precedent, including regulatory approvals.

The two companies are already partners in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) and Block 4 projects in Ghana, and this agreement further consolidates their cooperation in West Africa.

According to Eni, this transaction is in line with its strategy aimed at optimizing upstream activities by rebalancing its portfolio. This so-called dual exploration model provides for the early valorization of exploration discoveries through a reduction of participation in them. 

Baleine is Eni’s first development in Côte d’Ivoire and the company describes it as the first net-zero development in Africa and the largest hydrocarbon discovery made by an energy company in Côte d’Ivoire. The giant Baleine field was discovered in 2021, with production from floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit Baleine kicking off two years later. 

Baleine Phase 2 was launched on December 28, 2024, one year after the start-up of the first stage. The second phase enabled production to reach 60,000 barrels of oil per day and 70 million cubic feet of associated gas, which is equivalent to 2 million cubic meters (cbm).

Phase 2 entailed the deployment of the FPSO unit Petrojarl Kong and the floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit Yamoussoukro for the export of oil. 100% of the processed gas is expected to supply the local energy demand through the connection with the pipeline built during the project’s Phase 1.

With Phase 3, which is currently under study, total production is set to reach 150,000 barrels of oil per day and 200 million cubic feet of associated gas. 

The Congo LNG project started exporting natural gas in February 2024 using a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit, known as Tango with 0.6 million tons per annum (mtpa) capacity. The project is envisioned to unlock the gas resources of the Marine XII project with the installation of two FLNG units at the Nenè and Litchendjili fields.

The project currently produces 1 billion cbm per year of LNG. The second phase of the project, which entails another FLNG unit under construction, is scheduled to start at the end of 2025. This is expected to boost annual production to 4.5 billion cbm.

Earlier this month, GEOCEAN kicked off offshore operations to install the mooring system for the second FLNG unit at Congo LNG. The assignment entails installing a submerged swivel and yoke system (SSY) anchored via three drilled piles and one flexible riser, connecting the SSY to the FLNG around 50 km from Pointe Noire.