Italy Embassy hails first oil in Sankofa OCTP Project

The Embassy of Italy to Ghana has congratulated the Government of Ghana, ENI, VITOL and GNPC for the first oil which has been extracted well ahead of schedule from the OCTP project.

President Akufo-Addo turned on the valves on the FPSO John Agyekum Kufuor to signal the formal production of oil in commercial quantities from the Sankofa oil and gas fields.

Below is the full statement:

The Embassy of Italy to Ghana wishes to congratulate the Government of Ghana, the Italian Oil & Gas Company ENI, VITOL and GNPC for the first oil which has been extracted well ahead of schedule from the OCTP project.

The Chargé d’Affaires a.i .of the Embassy, Mr. Lorenzo Pinelli, on behalf of his Ambassador Mr. Giovanni Favilli, stated: “The OCTP project makes the bilateral relations between Ghana and Italy even stronger. It perfectly fits in a long trail blazed by the first Italians who arrived in Ghana (at the time known as Gold Coast) more than 100 years ago in order to build the first roads, railways and mines of this beautiful country. Our shared and long-standing history continues with many other infrastructural achievements, such as the construction of the Akosombo dam by Impregilo Salini and the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) by AGIP/ENI which is currently in this country again with the OCTP project, cementing a long-term partnership between Ghana, Italy, ENI, Vitol, and the GNPC”.

“Even more laudable is the fact that the gas from this field will be commercialized locally in order to drive and promote the development of this country and to put a definitive end to the much hated “dumsor”. The cost of this kind of energy will be significantly economical for the people of Ghana and an added advantage for Small and Medium Enterprises as they further create a larger industrial sector capable of providing thousands of jobs every year”.

Considered one of the global super-majors, ENI is currently operating in 73 countries. Today, Africa provides over half of ENI’s total production of oil and natural gas, confirming the company as the leading international producer in the Continent. The Italian Government owns a 30.303% golden share in ENI.