Failure of ENI/Springfield unitization could send Ghana to Court of Arbitration – IES cautions

• The IES has warned the impasse between ENI/Springfield could send Ghana to the International Court of Arbitration

• Nana Amoasi VII said any delays in the unitizations talks will also affect oil resource utilisation

• He adds that Ghana's upstream sector has barely witnessed any growth in the past five years

The Institute of Energy Securities (IES) has opined Ghana could face the International Court of Arbitration if the ongoing impasse between ENI Ghana and Springfield Limited is not addressed.

According to the Institute’s Executive Director, Nana Amoasi VII, any further delays in the unitization of the Afina and Sankofa oil fields could spell doom for the utilization of Ghana’s oil resources.

In an interaction with Citi Business News monitored by GhanaWeb, the IES Director explained the move will adversely impact Ghana’s upstream sector which has barely witnessed growth over the past five years.

“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.”

He continued, “And I have never cited one case internationally when it comes to energy matters, which Ghana has won outside of the one against Côte d’Ivoire. Let’s get the two parties at the table for a cooperative production instead of a competitive production”

“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.

Meanwhile, the two parties; ENI Ghana Exploration and Production and Springfield Exploration and Production Limited were in 2020 directed by the former Energy Minister, Peter Amewu, to unitize their oil fields.

The decision came after an independent study conducted by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) showed that the two oil blocks were connected.

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.