GHANA-GAS EXPLORATION Ghana assessing commercial potential of new offshore gas discovery

Record ID: 335666

  • Title: GHANA-GAS EXPLORATION Ghana assessing commercial potential of new offshore gas discovery
  • Date: 28th January 2015
  • Summary: PEDUASE, GHANA (JANUARY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN MAHAMA, PRESIDENT OF GHANA, SAYING: "Last year it is anticipated by UNCTAD (UN conference on Trade and Development) that foreign direct investments into Africa amounted to some 53.3 billion US dollars. This current agreement that has been signed for the investm
  • Embargoed: 12th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ghana
  • Country: Ghana
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7R4W1KKY8VV72A4W01JRSWWIL
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE EDIT CONTAINS 4:3 MATERIAL
    Ghana is looking at developing new gas finds to ramp up production in the country, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has said.
    Speaking during a signing ceremony on Tuesday (January 27) for a development plan for the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) development, to access approximately 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 500 million barrels of oil, President John Mahama said the OCTP project, is one of the biggest in Ghana since independence in 1957.
    The venture is set to start producing oil in 2017 and gas the next year.
    "Last year it is anticipated by UNCTAD (UN conference on Trade and Development) that foreign direct investments into Africa amounted to some 53.3 billion US dollars. This current agreement that has been signed for the investment of offshore Cape three points is to the tune of USD 7 billion and that's about 12 percent of the total 53.3 billion dollars and so it would probably be the single largest investment that is being made in an African country in this particular year," said Mahama.
    The assessment will be made in partnership with Italian energy group ENI and oil trader Vitol; it is also the first time a trading house, Vitol, is involved in a domestic gas deal in Africa.
    Ghana suffers from an energy deficit that has led to power cuts for homes and businesses and helped slow economic growth in a country that has seen rapid expansion in recent years on its exports of gold, cocoa and oil.
    "The gas that we expect would be able to power an additional 1,100 megawatts of power for Ghana that is more than Akosombo. Akosombo is 1,020 megawatts and this gas will be sufficient to power 1,100 megawatts we expect that this field viable life should last between 15 and 20 years," said President Mahama.
    Offshore oil and gas exploration will continue according to GNPC chief executive, Alex Mould despite a slump in the global oil price because project costs have been well managed.
    "Right now we're looking at them doing some appraisal work to decide how commercial it is and how they're going to put the project together, its security structure and the development of the project which have to do a lot of the engineering work to be done to make sure that we can develop this project at the least cost," said Mould.
    Ghana produces around 100,000 barrels per day from the offshore Jubilee field, which also produces 120 million cubic feet of gas. It also plans to start production of oil and gas in 2016 from the Tweneboah Enyeara and Ntomme (TEN) offshore field.
    The economy has seen rapid growth due to exports of gold, cocoa and oil, which it started pumping in 2010. However, the government forecasts 2015 growth easing to 3.9 percent, from just over 4 percent last year, in part because of fiscal challenges.
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