ENI to study oil and gas development opportunities in DR Congo
Italy's ENI will investigate oil and gas development opportunities in the Cuvette basin and in the east of Congo
(former Zaire) under an agreement signed with the government.
ENI is interested in both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons, it said, and will focus on the great lakes,
northern Kivu, and Tanganika lake in the east.
ENI Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni signed the strategic agreement with Congo Oil Minister Rene Isekemanga
Nkeka.
"With this agreement, ENI further strengthens its presence in the sub-Saharan region, where it is already present in
Nigeria, Gabon, Congo (Brazzaville), Angola, and Mozambique with an overall production of 450,000 boepd and a
significant, successful exploration activity," said ENI.
This cooperation builds upon a separate announcement where Scaroni met with Ghana's president, John Evans Atta-Mills
to emphasize the importance of the country for oil and gas production.
Scaroni said that the company was keen to foster a "new and durable partnership with Ghana."
Ghana is set to make its oil debut next year from the huge Jubilee field operated by Tullow Oil and Kosmos
Energy.
The partners will tap 300 mm bbl in the first phase through a floating, production, storage, and offloading vessel
with a plateau oil rate of 120,000 bpd, water injection capacity of 230,000 bpd, and gas export and injection
capacity of as much as 160 mm cfpd.
