Philippe N’Da, managing director of ICE Oil & Gas, talks to The Energy Year about the rationale for selecting Block CI-705 as an anchor exploration asset and the growing momentum in West Africa’s upstream following recent offshore discoveries.
ICE Oil & Gas is an independent E&P company in Côte d’Ivoire.
- Eni’s Baleine and Calao discoveries in Côte d’Ivoire have boosted confidence in the country’s prospectivity, accelerating upstream activity across the basin and attracting a growing number of IOCs to the country.
- Partnerships remain essential to de-risking exploration. Smaller players are leveraging agreements with established operators to access capital and technical capabilities, and to accelerate seismic and drilling programmes.
- With domestic power generation heavily reliant on gas from the legacy Foxtrot field, now in natural decline, Côte d’Ivoire’s shallow-water non-associated gas prospects are becoming increasingly important assets.
ICE Oil & Gas signed a PSC for Côte d’Ivoire’s Block CI-705 in 2023. What made this asset an attractive anchor for the company’s upstream strategy?
Block CI-705 was not a speculative choice – we carefully selected the asset. Many members of our technical team have worked for decades at Petroci and have deep knowledge of Côte d’Ivoire. The block was previously operated by TotalEnergies, and when they relinquished it, ICE Oil & Gas secured the block and executed the PSC in November 2023, driven by the conviction that the acreage remains underexplored.
In March 2025, we farmed out 70% working interest to the Houston-based company Vaalco Energy while retaining a 20% carried interest. Under the terms of the agreement, Vaalco now assumes the role of operator, leading the seismic reprocessing and interpretation work and potentially the drilling of up to two exploration wells. The outlook is highly promising, with several identified oil, gas and condensate prospects offering significant upside potential within a proven petroleum system.
How have offshore discoveries such as Calao and Baleine influenced your confidence in Côte d’Ivoire’s broader prospectivity?
Since the Jubilee discovery offshore Ghana in 2007, the region has attracted IOCs in search of analogous plays. Today, Côte d’Ivoire has established its own credentials thanks to Eni’s recent Baleine and Calao discoveries, and the country is leveraging this momentum to intensify exploration activity.
Vaalco is very active beyond Block CI-705, and the company has accelerated its expansion in the country, building on Baobab by becoming the operator of Kossipo, where it holds a 60% working interest alongside Petroci. Kossipo is an asset with contingent resources of more than 100 million boe and strong development potential. Meanwhile, Murphy Oil is progressing its drilling campaign, ExxonMobil has recently signed reconnaissance agreements, and Petrobras is in discussions for deep and ultra-deepwater blocks.
This momentum reflects the vision and leadership of Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly, Minister for Mines, Petroleum and Energy, to position Côte d’Ivoire as a regional energy hub and enhance its appeal for international investors. Ultimately, the best way to attract companies is through discoveries, as success brings confidence and draws
What will be your value proposition for investors as you grow your asset base in Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa?
We are a three-year-old startup with humble beginnings in a highly capital-intensive industry. The value we bring to the table is strong technical expertise combined with our understanding of the Côte d’Ivoire business environment. International companies have strong financial and technical capabilities, and we can complement them with in-depth local knowledge.
Our team includes geologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers and petroleum engineers with decades of experience in Côte d’Ivoire and the region. Since many had the opportunity to work across the entire basin while at Petroci, which participates in all PSCs, they have developed a comprehensive understanding of prospectivity within the complex Ivorian basin that allows us to confidently identify and demonstrate the potential of the acreage we select.
How competitive is Côte d’Ivoire’s upstream sector compared to the rest of the region?
In our experience negotiating PSCs, Côte d’Ivoire offers a stable legal framework and attractive fiscal terms, which are essential to attracting international investment, and the government has done a commendable job in creating a compelling environment for operators.
Côte d’Ivoire is increasingly positioning itself as a highly attractive exploration province in West Africa. The basin benefits from solid 2D and 3D seismic coverage and around 300 wells drilled, providing operators with a robust technical foundation and greater confidence in prospect evaluation. At the same time, neighbouring countries such as Liberia and Guinea, whose basins, though less explored, hold significant potential, are encouraged to intensify their exploration efforts and offer a competitive, investor-friendly framework to attract operators.
In 2023, the Ivorian government introduced local content legislation aimed at strengthening local participation in the oil and gas sector. This is a positive step, as local companies should play a meaningful role where they have the requisite technical capabilities, as effective implementation is key. We strongly support local content, provided it is applied in line with international standards, with a clear focus on developing sustainable in-country capabilities.
Natural gas plays a key role in Côte d’Ivoire’s energy mix. Do you expect its importance to persist?
Côte d’Ivoire relies on natural gas for roughly 75% of its power generation. It is mainly supplied by the Foxtrot gasfield, which has been producing for more than 25 years and is now naturally declining, making reserve replacement essential.
There is clear potential in Côte d’Ivoire to develop additional low-cost gas resources in shallow-water non-associated gas and condensate prospects. LNG export becomes a realistic option at scale, and recent discoveries suggest there is an opportunity to gradually build the resource base to support such developments.
Where would you like to see ICE Oil & Gas in five years?
ICE aims to build a diversified and robust portfolio of upstream assets. We will continue to rely on a disciplined model, partnering with strong players to advance exploration while maintaining exposure to upside.
Our objective is to be part of a first discovery, ideally within the next couple of years, which would allow us to progressively move toward operatorship. Step by step, we are building the foundations to become a credible independent operator.
further investment.