Now the Ivory Coast is on the way to becoming a substantial producer of oil and gas. Last week, UK-based Tullow Oil recorded flow rates of 8,500 barrels of oil per day from the Espoir field, offshore Ivory Coast. While initial tests indicate reserves of around 50-60 million barrels, company officials said this figure could be double.
The Tullow Group said it has plans for three more production wells in the Espoir field. Tullow began exploring off the Ivory Coast four years ago in partnership with Canadian Natural Resources.
The Ivory Coast government has a 10 per cent stake in the licence where Epsoir is located and will no doubt be determined to avoid the mistakes of its neighbour Nigeria, where the government has been criticised for not sharing the oil wealth equally amongst the populous.
