The State of Côte d’Ivoire, Petroci Holding and Brazilian group Petrobras signed eight production-sharing contracts on 17 September 2026 in Abidjan, covering offshore blocks in the western part of Côte d’Ivoire’s sedimentary basin, according to the official filing Petrobras submitted to the US securities regulator.
What the contracts cover
The eight blocks, CI-513, CI-600, CI-601, CI-602, CI-603, CI-605, CI-701 and CI-702, span roughly 34,000 km² in deep water. Petrobras Netherlands B.V., a wholly owned Petrobras subsidiary, will operate them with a 90% stake. Petroci Holding holds the remaining 10%, with a paid option to raise its participation by another 15%, which could bring its total stake to 25%, according to Linfodrome. The signing took place at the Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire, attended by Economy, Finance and Budget Minister Adama Coulibaly and Mines, Petroleum and Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly, according to the Ivorian Press Agency.
What it means financially
The agreements include a total signing bonus of $24 million across the eight blocks. The mines minister announced more than 250 billion FCFA in first-phase investment, earmarked for next-generation seismic data acquisition and at least eight ultra-deepwater wells, per Alwihda Info. This is an announced commitment, not yet a disbursement: the real pace of seismic campaigns and drilling will determine whether the figure translates into actual spend.
Why Petrobras, and why now
Per its own regulatory disclosure, Petrobras is targeting “high-potential exploration areas along the African equatorial margin” as part of a reserve-replacement strategy spanning new exploration frontiers in Brazil and abroad. Company president Magda Chambriard pointed to geological similarities with Brazil’s own sedimentary basins to justify the move. Sylvia Anjos, Petrobras’s exploration and production director, attended the signing.
What it says about Ivorian strategy
With these eight contracts, the occupancy rate of the national sedimentary basin now stands at 75%, or roughly 63,000 km² covered by production, appraisal or exploration activity. Minister Sangafowa-Coulibaly said the country is moving closer to its goal of gradually raising that rate to 100%.
The move fits a broader sequence. A week earlier, the Council of Ministers authorised the creation of Petroci CI-26, Côte d’Ivoire’s first state-owned subsidiary dedicated exclusively to oil production, tasked with taking over the Espoir field, according to Forbes Afrique. Côte d’Ivoire is therefore pursuing two parallel tracks: attracting new international operators into deepwater exploration while building up its national oil company’s direct operating capacity on fields already producing.
What remains uncertain
These contracts cover exploration, not a confirmed discovery. Geological risk in ultra-deep water remains high, and no timeline for first drilling has been disclosed. Whether Petrobras’s thesis on geological continuity between the Brazilian and African margins holds up, and whether Petroci exercises its option to raise its stake, are the next signals to watch.