SOCAR Acquires 10% Stake in Côte d'Ivoire Offshore Project in Global Expansion Push

SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state energy company, has acquired a 10 percent equity stake in the Baleine oil and gas development project in Côte d'Ivoire through an agreement with Italian major Eni, marking the Caspian company's most significant expansion into sub-Saharan Africa to date. The deal, signed in January 2026, reflects SOCAR's strategic ambition to diversify its asset base beyond the Caspian region and position itself as a genuinely global operator.

The Baleine discovery, made by Eni in 2021, is one of the most significant offshore oil and gas finds in West Africa in recent years. Located in Block CI-101 in the waters off Abidjan, the field is estimated to contain approximately 2.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in total resources. First production began in 2023, and the development programme is expected to reach peak output of around 150,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent in the late 2020s. The project is also notable for its gas monetisation component, with associated gas being used to generate electricity for the Ivorian national grid rather than being flared.

SOCAR's entry into Baleine gives the company exposure to a high-quality deepwater asset with a long production life, diversifying its revenue base beyond the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields and the Shah Deniz gas project. Analysts at Wood Mackenzie noted that the acquisition also provides SOCAR with valuable technical experience in deepwater operations — a capability that could prove relevant as Azerbaijan considers future exploration in deeper sections of the Caspian.

The Eni-SOCAR relationship predates the Baleine deal. The two companies have collaborated on projects in Azerbaijan and on Eni's broader Mediterranean and African portfolio. SOCAR has used Eni's FPSO technology in several Caspian applications, and the trust built through that relationship made SOCAR a natural partner for Eni as it sought to bring in co-investors on the Baleine development to manage capital exposure.

SOCAR's international expansion has accelerated in recent years as Azerbaijan's government has encouraged the company to pursue growth beyond its domestic base in anticipation of a long-term plateau in Caspian production. The company now operates retail fuel networks in Georgia, Turkey, and several European countries, holds a stake in the STAR refinery in Turkey, and has minority positions in several upstream projects across the Caspian and Mediterranean.

The Baleine acquisition signals that SOCAR is now prepared to take on more significant upstream risk in frontier geographies — a departure from its historically cautious approach to international equity investment. If Baleine performs to its projected resource potential, the deal could provide a meaningful contribution to SOCAR's production base by the early 2030s.

For Côte d'Ivoire, SOCAR's entry as an equity partner brings additional commercial and financial support to a project already seen as a catalyst for the country's oil sector revival.

Further Reading:
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