ENI/Springfield impasse: Ghana risks losing investors in upstream sector – IES

The Institute of Energy Securities (IES) has warned that Ghana risks losing investors over the ongoing impasse between ENI Ghana Exploration and Production and Springfield Exploration and Production Limited.

This comes after the two parties were directed by the former energy Minister John Peter Amewu, to unitize their oil fields.

An independent study conducted by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) showed that the two oil blocks in the Afina and Sankofa fields were connected.

The process has however been hit with a snag for over a year.

But Executive Director of the IES, Nana Amoasi VII believes the delays in unitization talks will only scare away potential investors.

“If we are not careful, and we don’t resolve this matter amicably, it will also scare away investors. And we should also note that as we speak funding is being directed more at the green projects or renewables. The more we delay, the more we lose the opportunity in attracting investors.”

“Over the past five years clearly, we’ve not seen any growth in the upstream industry. It’s the same players that we had, with no new players coming to the fore. And so it’s a matter that should be settled in such a way that it will garner the interest of investors to come and be part of our upstream industry,” he stressed.

He added, “Because government has an interest in reducing the cost of production and generating more revenue for its citizens to support its budget, it may be forced to impose some terms of unitization which government has done. If we are not careful, and we don’t tread cautiously, this matter can go to the international court of arbitration.”

Already, the Sankofa Oil field’s forms part of ENI’s Offshore Cape Three Points project and lays off Ghana’s Atlantic Coast of which the GNPC says has reserves of about 40 billion cubic meters of gas and 500 million barrels of oil.