lukoil to spend $400mln on ivory coast

Cote d'Ivoire: Lukoil to spend $400 million on Ivory Coast exploration

26 Feb 2013
Russia's second-largest oil producer, LUKOIL, will spend about $400 million this year on exploration wells near the site of a recent oil find off Ivory Coast, the company and the country's oil minister said on Monday. 'This year we will continue our work,' company president Vagit Alekperov told journalists after meeting with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara. 'These three drills will give us lots of information on the continental basin and allow us to get a better idea of the discovery made at the 'Independence' well," he said.

Ivory Coast's Oil Minister Adama Toungara said the discovery had been made last year. 'This is an investment that will bring in around $400 million,' he said. Lukoil is currently carrying out exploration on three Ivorian offshore blocks and plans to expand to a fourth. 'We believe there are promising outlooks on the three blocks in our possession, and I can tell you we have finalised the negotiation process to move onto another block,' Alekperov said.

Lukoil's production in Russia has been falling due to declining output at depleted oilfields in Western Siberia. The privately-owned company has been seeking opportunities abroad as its prospects for growth in Russia appear limited because state-controlled companies have exclusive access to strategic deposits, including offshore Arctic oil.

Oil majors are jostling for stakes in offshore blocks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea as global on-land oil supplies become more scarce. Lukoil has already drilled several wells in the Gulf of Guinea as part of a joint venture with Texas-based Vanco and Ghana's National Petroleum Corporation. It also announced last year it would invest $100 million to launch exploration activities on its offshore block in Sierra Leone.

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