We work with Blue-chips; we didn't cook oil find volumes - Springfield CEO

Mr Kevin Okyere, CEO of Springfield Exploration and Production Ghanaian-owned oil explorer Springfield Exploration and Production (SEP) Limited has denied cooking up figures of its recent oil find (1.5 billion barrels) to shore up the company’s value.

Refuting the claim made by some sceptical oil and gas analysts, SEP’s CEO, Mr Kevin Okyere, in an audio statement copied to ClassFMonline.com, said: “These works are being done by Blue-chip companies such as Baker Hughes, GE, Halliburton, Schlumberger and the likes, so, this isn’t something that we, Springfield, are sitting in our company and just coming up with numbers; that’s not how it works”.

According to him, “There are companies that do the work and there are gauges, there are logs, there are stuff which tell you, so, you cannot make up this numbers; you can’t just sit in your house and make up this numbers”, insisting: “The technical teams work with these companies”.

Mr Okyere said Springfield is a company that takes its integrity seriously and, so, has not and would not indulge in any Mr Kevin Okyere acts.

“You have to understand that integrity is everything in our line of business, so, you just don’t sit down and come up with these numbers”, adding: “I think what you need to understand is that there were some existing discoveries on our block when we were awarded and what we’ve done has basically increased our proven volumes or our discoveries to a little over 1.5 billion and we have added additional gas of 700bcf, so, Springfield and GNPC don’t sit in our rooms and just come up with the numbers”.

He added: “Springfield works with integrity, we work with Blue-chip companies, we gain nothing, we’re not a listed company, we don’t need to say anything; just that our petroleum agreement says we need to let everyone know what we have”.

The current undiscovered potential of the Block is also estimated at over 3 billion barrels of oil and gas in multiple leads and prospects within various proven reservoir units.

The local company, together with the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and GNPC EXPLORCO, officially announced the “significant” oil find following its maiden Afina-1 well drilling campaign in the West Cape Three Points (WCTP) Block 2, offshore Ghana.

This is expected to shore up oil production in the country despite Tullow Oil plc’s announcement that it will not be able to meet its production target in the coming year.

In an official statement copied to ClassFMonline.com, Springfield said Afina-1, which is located at a water depth of 1,030 metres, was drilled to a total depth of 4,085 metres and encountered light oil with a gross thickness of 65 metres, with 50 metres light net oil pay in good quality Cenomanian sandstones.

SEP said the secondary target in Turonian age sands was drilled at the edge of the structure and encountered 10 metres of hydrocarbon-bearing sands consisting of light oil and gas.

With this, Springfield has made history as the first independent Ghanaian and African energy company to drill in deepwater and find hydrocarbons.

Springfield is currently the operator and majority interest holder (84%) of WCTP Block 2, with GNPC and its exploration company, EXPLORCO, holding the remaining interest.

In the official statement announcing the find, Mr Okyere said the discovery comes as great news for Springfield, Ghana and Africa, adding: “We are excited about the discovery as it ties into our vision of becoming a leading African upstream player with a global focus. This, for us, means increased opportunities to impact the lives of our people positively with the resources.”

For his part, Dr K. K. Sarpong, Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, said: “As the national oil company of Ghana, GNPC is proud of this feat chalked in this all-Ghanaian partnership. This achievement fits into GNPC’s strategic pillars of: ‘Replacing and growing reserves’, as well as ‘enhancing sustainability through local content development…’ This discovery demonstrates, once again, the high prospectivity of Ghana’s sedimentary basins and the Ghanaian capacity to deliver, given the opportunity.”

Springfield Exploration and Production Limited was incorporated in March 2008 to pursue exploration and production opportunities in Ghana and the West African sub-region. The process of acquiring a block began in 2012, but it was finally awarded by the government of Ghana in March 2016.

As a result of the oil find, Mr Okyere was recently named among the ‘Top 25 Movers and Shakers to Watch’ in the world in 2020 by the Africa Energy Chamber.

The Chamber launched the inaugural list on Wednesday, 27 November 2019.

Providing a window to what key developments and advancements the African energy sector can look forward to next year and beyond, the list profiles key individuals who stand to contribute significantly in shaping the continent’s energy economy.

The list, not confined to Africans, features key industry dealmakers such as Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, who chairs the Dangote Group, which is about completing its 650,000 bpd Lagos-based “game-changing” refinery; the President of the United States of America, Mr Donald J. Trump, whose “America-first oil politics is likely to affect global prices and the appetite of American majors to look outside”

“With this list, we hope to put all key role players to task, we want to challenge them and pose the questions: ‘What’s next? Are you going to deliver on your plans and promises? How will you and your organisation contribute to the development of Africa’s oil and gas sector?’,” said N.J. Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber and author of Amazon best-selling book ‘Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals’.

“This year alone, the continent has seen improved cooperation and investment, large-scale discoveries, world-scale projects coming online that make Africa the world’s hottest oil and gas frontier. The next step is to find out how we can maintain this momentum and the people on this list can certainly provide answers. Africans should demand more from them”, Ayuk added.

The Top 25 Movers and Shakers to Watch list forms part of the African Energy Chamber’s African Energy Outlook, which has set out to provide a comprehensive overview of the oil and gas sector across sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on strategic, operational and investment trends in the industry.

“We watch developments in the industry closely and speak to a wide range of stakeholders. What we have noticed, is that a new breed of African oil men and women are playing an ever-greater role in the development of the continent’s resources, including with resources mobilized on the continent. This is a trend we applaud. However, cooperation with international partners who still possess the technology needed to successfully undertake projects is very welcome” said Mickael Vogel, Director of Strategy at the African Energy Chamber.

Mr Okyere currently sits on one of Africa’s “most promising assets”, the Chamber said in reference to the oil find.