Ghana to put West Africa on oil radar

One of the larger oil fields in Africa, the so-called TEN project, is on pace to start production by the middle of next year, Tullow Oil declared.

The deepwater Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme project off the coast of Ghana is more than 60 percent complete and should deliver its first oil by the middle of next year. At its peak, it is expected to produce about 80,000 barrels of oil per day.

"We are making good progress with our major development projects in West and East Africa," Tullow Chief Executive Officer Aidan Heavey said in a statement from London. "With the TEN Project on schedule and on budget for first oil in mid-2016, our West Africa oil production is set to grow to around 100,000 bpd net to Tullow in 2017."

Tullow in November announced initial plans to cut back in response to low oil prices. Heavey in January said his company was looking to position itself to take advantage of market conditions once they improve. Oil priced at about half of its June 2014 value has forced many major oil and gas companies to trim their capital spending plans for the year.

The company said in its latest report capital spending of $783 million during the first half of the year was 25 percent lower year-on-year. First half revenues of $820 million are 35 percent less than the first half of 2015.

"Our financial results for the first half of 2015 are in line with market expectations and reflect the re-setting of our business in response to the weaker oil price," Heavey said.