Eni Baleine Phase 3 offshore development in Côte d’Ivoire

In early July 2026, Eni’s Baleine Phase 3 offshore oil project off Côte d’Ivoire entered a key procurement phase. Altera Infrastructure signed a contract with Chinese engineering firm Wison New Energies to build a 90,000 bpd floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel capable of processing 160 million scf of gas per day and storing 1.4 million barrels of crude. TechnipFMC secured a deal to supply flexible flowlines and risers linking wells in about 1,200 m of water to the FPSO, supporting the project's expansion to 150,000 bpd of oil and 200 mm scf of gas per day, with all gas earmarked for the Ivorian domestic market.

A week later, SLB’s joint‑venture OneSubsea (Aker Solutions and Subsea 7) was awarded an EPC contract by Eni for the same phase, covering the supply and installation of complete subsea production systems for 13 wells, including subsea trees, umbilicals, manifolds, multiphase flow meters and control systems, plus commissioning and life‑cycle support.

On 22 July 2026, Italian contractor Saipem won a $260 million offshore drilling contract to deploy its seventh‑generation drillship Santorini off Côte d’Ivoire from early 2027. The vessel will operate in water depths up to 3,658 m and drill wells as deep as 12,192 m, underpinning the target increase in oil output from 60,000 to 150,000 bpd and gas production from 80 to 200 million scf per day, bringing total production to roughly 183,000 barrels of oil‑equivalent per day.

The July 2026 Saipem award also includes options for extended work in Côte d’Ivoire and neighboring countries and is part of an €800 million package with Eni that encompasses EPC for a new de‑oxygenation unit at the Enilive bio‑refinery in Venice, underscoring Saipem’s dual role in offshore West African development and on‑shore sustainable‑energy projects in Europe.