Murphy Oil has moved its drillship, the Deepwater Skyros, to drill the Caracal exploration well in Block CI-102 offshore Ivory Coast, following the unsuccessful Civette-1 well in Block CI-502. The Civette-1 well, while encountering hydrocarbons across multiple intervals, was deemed non-commercial.

Ivory Coast Exploration Campaign

The Caracal well is the second in a three-well campaign. After Caracal, the drillship will proceed to drill the Bubale prospect in Block CI-709. Murphy Oil estimates significant potential recoverable resources: 150-360 million barrels of oil equivalent for Caracal and 340-850 million boe for Bubale. The company emphasizes that each well targets an independent geological play, meaning the result of one does not predict the outcome of the others.

Expansion into Morocco

Murphy Oil has also entered the Gharb Deep Offshore exploration licence in Morocco. The company cited very favourable fiscal terms and the early identification of a large geological structure as key reasons for the entry. Murphy plans to reprocess existing seismic data, with a maximum expenditure of $5 million over three years unless it opts to drill an exploration well, which is not currently a commitment.

The Gharb Deep acreage is located west of Chariot Energy's Rissana block, which contains the Anchois gas discovery. The Anchois discovery, despite a failed appraisal well, is still under review for a rescaled development. The broader region is noted for holding trillions of cubic feet of prospective resources, though commercial discoveries offshore Morocco have been elusive due to complex geology.