Eni Unveils Energy Discovery In Block Ci-501 With Murene South-1x Well

Eni S.p.A. E announced a major gas and condensate discovery offshore Cote d'Ivoire in Block CI-501 with the Murene South-1X exploration well. The latest discovery has been named Calao South.

Situated within the prolific Calao channel complex, known for its hydrocarbon potential following previous successful exploration, the Calao South discovery is the country's second-largest find following the Baleine field. The discovery made in high-quality Cenomanian sands is estimated to hold 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 450 million barrels of condensate (1.4 billion barrels of oil).

The well is located in Block 15/06, about 8 km southwest of the Murene-1X discovery well in the adjacent CI-205 block, reinforcing the resource potential across the Calao channel area. Block CI-501 is operated by Eni and Petroci Holding, with Eni owning a 90% operating stake.

The Murene-1X well, drilled by the Saipem drillship Santorini to a total depth of about 5,000 meters in roughly 2,200 meters of water, intersected hydrocarbons within high-quality Cenomanian sandstone reservoirs, with nearly 50 meters of net hydrocarbon pay demonstrating strong petrophysical properties. A full conventional drill stem test is planned to assess flow and production potential.

Recently, Eni, along with BP plc, made another oil discovery at the Algaita-01 exploration well situated offshore Angola through its joint venture, Azule Energy.

Discoveries like these are expected to support Eni’s higher future oil production with increased cash flow, thereby strengthening the upstream business model and enhancing investor appeal.

With West Texas Intermediate crude trading below $65 per barrel, per Oilprice.com, the business environment for the upstream businesses of Eni S.p.A, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), appears to be softening. However, forecasts from the U.S. Energy Information Administration suggest that crude prices may decline further, indicating continued pressure on its exploration and production segments in the near term.

Some other key players in the integrated oil and gas space areChevron Corporation CVX, BP plc BP and Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM. The business models of CVX, BP and XOM are also exposed to crude price volatility. CVX, BP and XOM carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The robustness of Chevron’s upstream asset base helped the Houston-based energy giant achieve record production levels in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In 2025, BP plc achieved record refining availability of 96.3% and upstream plant reliability of 96.1%, enabling the company to produce 2.3 million barrels of oil-equivalent per day from its upstream operations.

Exxon Mobil achieved an average daily production of 4.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2025, the company’s strongest performance in more than 40 years.

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