Murphy Oil makes oil discovery offshore Côte d’Ivoire

June 23, 2026, by Nadja Skopljak

Houston-headquartered oil & gas company Murphy Oil has made an oil discovery at the Bubale-1X exploration well in Block CI-709, located approximately 64 kilometers offshore Côte d’Ivoire.

The Bubale-1X well was drilled to a total depth of 6,263 meters in 2,376 meters of water and encountered 30 meters of net oil pay across two reservoirs, with preliminary assessment indicating high-quality light oil, Murphy Oil reported.

“Early results at Bubale reinforce the prospectivity of our Côte d’Ivoire acreage,” said Eric Hambly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Murphy Oil. “We are pleased with the results to date, which underscore the value of a disciplined and consistent exploration approach. Our immediate focus now is advancing evaluation plans to define the discovery’s full potential.”

The well is the third and final in the company’s current three-well exploration campaign in Côte d’Ivoire. Following these results, Murphy Oil plans to move into the next phase of evaluation, with one well planned for the second half of 2026 to test the extent of the discovery.

The Bubale-1X well was spud in late February by Murphy CI-709 Oil Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corporation and operator of Block CI-709. Murphy holds a 90% working interest in the block, with Société Nationale d’Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d’Ivoire (PETROCI) holding the remaining 10%.