Italy’s Eni has signed a binding agreement with Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR to sell a 10% stake in the Baleine project, Côte d’Ivoire’s largest offshore oil and gas development.
The agreement was signed on January 22 and is subject to standard regulatory approvals. Once completed, Eni will remain the operator of the project with a 37.25% stake, alongside Vitol, which holds 30%, and Côte d’Ivoire’s national oil company Petroci, which owns 22.75%, Ecofin Agency reported.
The transaction is part of a rapid reshaping of the shareholder structure of the country’s largest producing oil and gas field and aligns with Eni’s broader strategy to optimize its upstream portfolio.
SOCAR’s entry follows Vitol’s recent investment in the project, after authorities finalized the sale of a 30% stake to the Swiss commodities trader at the end of September 2025, once all required approvals were secured.
That deal reduced Eni’s exposure to the asset while allowing it to retain operational control.
Through this approach, Eni has sought to share financial and operational risks on a producing asset while freeing up capital for other upstream developments, making Baleine a key example of the company’s active portfolio management strategy in Côte d’Ivoire.
The sale of 10% to SOCAR reflects Eni’s model of monetizing discoveries earlier, once projects enter the development or production phases, through targeted asset disposals that do not compromise operational control.
In Côte d’Ivoire, this strategy has supported the financing of the expansion of Eni’s offshore portfolio, which now includes ten blocks following recent offshore license acquisitions.
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The agreement also highlights closer cooperation between Eni and SOCAR.
In 2024, the two companies signed three memoranda of understanding covering hydrocarbon exploration and production, energy security, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and the biofuels value chain.
SOCAR’s participation in Eni’s flagship Ivorian project translates this cooperation into a concrete partnership around a strategically important asset.
Eni entered Côte d’Ivoire in 2015 and made Baleine its first major development in the country.
The field was discovered in 2021, marking a major shift for Côte d’Ivoire’s hydrocarbons sector after two decades without a significant commercial discovery.
Eni brought the project into production in 2023 under an accelerated schedule and developed it as Africa’s first net-zero emissions oil and gas project.
Phases 1 and 2 currently produce more than 62,000 barrels of oil per day and over 75 million cubic feet of gas per day, with a substantial portion of the gas supplying the domestic market to support electricity generation.
The project is now progressing toward Phase 3, which remains under study and is intended to increase output to 150,000 barrels of oil per day and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day.
The partners expect to take a final investment decision by the end of 2025. Available data suggest the field should remain economically viable until 2059, positioning Baleine as a long-term pillar of Côte d’Ivoire’s oil and gas production.
At present, Baleine accounts for about 8% of Côte d’Ivoire’s daily oil and gas output and plays a central role in the country’s energy policy.
For Eni, the transaction reinforces its upstream optimization strategy, while for Côte d’Ivoire, it strengthens an asset that has become structurally important to the country’s energy and economic outlook.
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Image Credit: Offshore Technology
