Côte d’Ivoire escalates Ghana border row

Côte d’Ivoire has escalated a simmering border row with Ghana by demarcating new blocks that overlap with Ghana’s western acreage. A map displayed by state oil company Petroci at Global Pacific & Partners’ Africa Upstream conference showed atriangle of new acreage offshore eastern Côte d’Ivoire, blocks CI-540, CI-541, CI-542, CI-543, and possibly the ultra-deep CI-544, that appear to stray into areas licensed by Ghana. “The government has directed us to demarcate these blocks. Thisis because of Ghana’s earlier demarcation,” a Petroci spokeswoman told African Energy. “They claimed more than they should by international law. There is a dispute and there are discussions between the governments.”