Adnan Adams Mohammed
Eni and its partner Vitol have been awarded rights to Block WB03, located in the medium deep waters of the prolific Tano Basin, offshore Ghana. This result allows Eni to further consolidate its presence in the Country.
Similarly, First Exploration and Petroleum Development Company, in partnership with Elandel Energy (Ghana) Limited as local partner, won the bid for block GH_WB_02.
Nana Oppong Damoah, Head of Communication and Public Relations of Ministry of Energy in a statement issued, last week, said government has invited the companies for negotiations on the terms of the petroleum agreement pursuant to Regulation 18 of the General Petroleum Regulations, 2018 L.I 2359.
Eni will be the operator of the license and besides Vitol the Joint Venture will include the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and a local registered Company that will be identified during the phase of contract finalization. The Contract award is subject to approval from the Authorities.
This award comes as an outcome of Ghana’s first international competitive bid round, in which 5 Blocks have been put on offer in water depths ranging from 100 to 4,400 m.
In Ghana’s Tano Basin, Eni owns rights to the Development Areas of Sankofa and GyeNyame as well as to the Exploration and Production area of CTP-Block 4. The new block is located approximately 50km south-east from the FPSO John AgyekumKufuor (JAK) that is currently producing oil and gas from Sankofa Field. The proximity of these infrastructures will become synergic in case of new discoveries in Block 3.
Ghana is among the key Countries for Eni’s organic growth. The company has been present in the Country since 2009 and accounts currently a gross production of about 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The government, through the Energy Ministry, earmarked six oil blocks for exploration.
Three of the blocks – 2, 3 and 4 – were to go through competitive bidding process.
On the other hand, two blocks – 5 and 6 – were supposed to be for direct negotiations and one reserved for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
A total of 14 oil and gas firms expressed interest in the first licensing and bidding process for some oil blocks.
The original pool of companies that put in a bid for the three oil blocks include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Cairn Energy, Qatar Petroleum, Global Petroleum Group, First E&P, Sasol, and Equinor and Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation.
The rest include ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Tullow Ghana Limited, Total, ENI Ghana, Vitol, Kosmos Energy, and Aker Energy.
US oil giant, ExxonMobil and British Petroleum (BP) submitted applications for direct negotiations for block five and six.
However, the two International Oil Companies (IOCs) pulled out from bidding for oil blocks at the last minute.
It is not clear yet why the two multinational companies decided to pull out at the last minute.
