Ivorian Offshore: Murphy Oil Bets on the Bubale-1X Well to Boost Deepwater Exploration

The American company Murphy Oil Corporation is actively continuing its deepwater oil exploration campaign off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire. The third well in this campaign, Bubale-1X, is now considered a strategic drilling operation for the future of the company’s projects in the Ivorian basin.

Located in the offshore block CI-709, the well is expected to confirm the potential of the Paon prospect, identified as a promising target. According to information published on March 4 by Upstream Online, a successful drilling result could pave the way for an oil development project in the area.

Prior to Bubale-1X, Murphy Oil had already drilled two exploratory wells as part of this campaign. The first, Civette-1X, drilled in block CI-502, and the second, Caracal-1X, in block CI-102, both revealed indications of hydrocarbons. However, the results have not yet confirmed commercially recoverable volumes.

Despite these mixed results, geological analyses carried out after the drilling operations have revealed the presence of an active petroleum system in the Ivorian basin. This finding is considered an encouraging signal for the continuation of exploration activities in the region.

In the country, Murphy Oil operates several permits in partnership with the national oil company PETROCI Holding. The company holds between 85% and 90% interests in five offshore blocks located in the Tano Basin, an area widely regarded as one of the most promising hydrocarbon zones in West Africa.

In the long term, the company plans to connect multiple potential discoveries to a shared production infrastructure, provided that sufficient volumes are confirmed. Such an approach would help optimize development costs and accelerate the path to production.

The results of the Bubale-1X well, expected next month, are likely to provide crucial new geological data to refine the assessment of the Ivorian offshore oil potential and guide the next steps of Murphy Oil’s exploration strategy in the region.