The exploratory well to be drilled by Santa Fe Energy Resources of Ghana Limited and its new partner Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in the offshore Keta basin in December is to cost about nine million dollars.
Exploration undertaken since 1997 has so far cost some six million dollars. According to the Exploration Manager of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. N.B. Asafu Adjaye, initial activities will be concentrated on geological and geophysical operations.
Currently the GNPC has 10 per cent stake in the Keta basin exploration with an option to increase to 25 per cent in the event of a commercial discovery of oil and gas. Santa Fe and the GNPC began exploratory activities in the offshore Keta basin in 1997. The drilling of the well follows three years of geological and geophysical operations involving the acquisition of 2D and 3D seismic data to identify possible exploration sites. According to Mr. Asafu Adjaye it is the culmination of these activities that resulted in the choice of location for the exploratory well. He however explained in an interview with JOY FM that the drilling of the exploratory well does not mean discovery of oil.
