African oil-producing countries have significantly increased their contribution to global oil discoveries, now representing 35% of newly discovered oil reserves in 2024—a substantial increase from just 7% in 2023, according to a new report by S&P Global.
The report, titled "High Impact Wells 2025," reveals that while global discoveries totaled approximately 8.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (the lowest newly discovered volumes since the 1950s), African basins made notable contributions. The Cote D'Ivoire Basin and Orange Sub-basin alone accounted for 2.9 billion barrels of this total.
"Notably, 60% of offshore Africa's new field wildcats were drilled in frontier or immature basins," the report states. The Southwest African Coastal Basin, particularly the Orange Sub-basin, and the Cote d'Ivoire Basin emerged as major exploration hotspots.
Galp's Mopane 1X discovery in the Orange Sub-basin stands out as the year's largest global find, notable for its location in shallower waters (1,400m shallower than the Venus discovery) with favorable reservoir properties. The basin continues to attract exploration from major players including TotalEnergies and Shell, with further high-impact wells planned for 2025.
Eni's successful Murene 1X well, which made the Calao discovery, represents the third-largest find in the Cote d'Ivoire Basin. "If not for the Orange Sub-basin, the Cote d'Ivoire Basin has been the most prolific African basin since 2021," notes the report.
The findings highlight a growing industry focus on deepwater exploration, with drillers reaching depths of approximately 1,680 meters at the Mopane well and 2,200 meters at the Murene 1X well in Côte d'Ivoire. Ultra-deepwater exploration, exemplified by the Venus 1X well (3,000 meters water depth) and Nigeria's Bonga Oil Field, represents a high-risk but potentially high-reward strategy.
Despite Africa's growing prominence, Nigeria—possessing oil reserves of 37.5 billion barrels—was notably absent from these recent discoveries. However, Shell's planned $5 billion investment in the Bonga North Field and Chevron's discovery of a new oil field in the Meji NW-1 well (with potential for 17,000 barrels per day) suggest Nigeria may rejoin the conversation in coming years.
Looking ahead to 2025, S&P Global projects that the Southwest African Coastal Basin, Central Arabian Province, and Guyana Basin will remain significant players in the exploration landscape. More than 35 high-impact wells are scheduled globally, with Latin America and Africa continuing as key regions of focus.
The OPEC Secretary-General, Haitham Al-Ghais, recently challenged Africa to unlock its proven oil reserves of over 120 billion barrels amid the ongoing energy transition being advocated by Western nations.
