Murphy Oil makes deepwater oil discovery offshore Côte d’Ivoire
Murphy Oil made an oil discovery at the Bubale-1X exploration well in Block CI-709, approximately 64 km offshore Côte d’Ivoire, completing the company’s three-well deepwater exploration campaign in the country.
The well was drilled to a total depth of 6,263 m in 2,376 m of water and encountered 30 m of net oil pay across two reservoirs. Preliminary assessment indicated high-quality light oil.
Bubale-1X was spud in late February 2026. Murphy holds a 90% working interest in the block, with Société Nationale d’Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d’Ivoire (PETROCI) holding the remaining 10%.
The well is the third and final in Murphy’s current exploration campaign offshore Côte d’Ivoire, following the Civette-1X and Caracal-1X wells. Caracal-1X, drilled in Block CI-102, was plugged and abandoned as a dry hole earlier this year.
Murphy said it plans to move into the next phase of evaluation, with one appraisal well planned for H2 2026 to test the extent of the discovery.
