Mitsubishi Acquires Interest in Block CI-103 Off Ivory Coast

Block CI-103, which is located off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, is currently in appraisal.  The transfer of the interests will be finalized once the government of Côte d’Ivoire issues the required approvals.

Block CI-103 is located about 50 kilometers off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, at a water depth of 2,000 meters.  Anadarko, Tullow Oil Plc. and PETROCI (Côte d’Ivoire’s national oil company), who are the interest holders in the block, have received approval to proceed with appraisal operations, having confirmed oil and gas deposits at an exploratory well they drilled in 2012.  Further evaluation works for deposits, including conducting shallow hazard surveys and drilling additional appraisal wells, will proceed with MC as a new entrant under the ownership structure, while the parties work towards reaching a final investment decision.

Ever since the discovery of oil and gas deposits off the coast of neighboring Ghana several years ago, Côte d’Ivoire and the Western Coast of Africa, have also been attracting much international attention as an area for oil and gas wealth. MC enters the scene in partnership with Anadarko, a global leader in deep-water exploration and development, and will draw on MC’s expertise which has been accumulated through the projects in Western Coast of Africa, Gabon and Angola, over many years. This is the first time that a Japanese company is undertaking an oil and gas project in Côte d’Ivoire.

In keeping with the company’s current mid-term corporate strategy “New Strategic Direction – Charting a new path towards sustainable growth”, MC is aiming to double attributable equity production in resource businesses by 2020. Consequently, this project is an addition to existing oil and gas development projects in Southeast Asia, the US Gulf of Mexico, the British North Sea, Australia and elsewhere, all of which allow MC to contribute to securing a stable supply of oil, natural gas, and other energy resources to the market. This particular project is also important to MC because of the role it will play in Côte d’Ivoire’s economic development.

Press Release, September 12, 2014; Image: Tullow