Oil to start flowing in 2010

Tullow Oil to meet June 2010 date for drilling Ghana’s oil
UK based Tullow Oil says it is on course to start commercial drilling of oil in Ghana in June 2010, the company insists the date will be met.

Tullow Oil is exploring for oil in Ghana together with Kosmos Energy, Anadarko and some other junior oil companies as partners.

Oil was discovered in commercial quantities in Ghana in 2007. The announcement of the find immediately made Ghana a destination point for some of the world’s major oil and gas industry players.

Speaking at a sentisation forum on the activities of oil companies with communities at Takoradi in the Western Region last week, Alan Duworkpor, Drilling Manager of Tullow said, the development of the Jubilee Field is on course and all 17 wells of the Jubillee Field are intact.

Issues on the equitable distribution of oil revenues were also discussed. Meanwhile, there are outstanding issues regarding Tullow Oil’s adherence to environmental regulations of Ghana. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) insists, the company and its partner, Kosmos Energy have not fulfilled requirements for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) permits, and therefore, cannot go ahead with their drilling activities, but the two companies say, contrary to claims by the EPA, they have completed EIAs and therefore, could go on with their drilling activities.

Some NGOs, such us Third World Network and ISODEC have expressed concern over the lack of transparency and non-compliance with the country’s environmental regulations by the oil companies. The NGOs have accused the oil companies of misrepresenting their EIAs to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group to secure loans to the tune of $215 million. The Jubilee oil field has been described as the largest to be discovered in West Africa in the last 10 to 15 years. By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi