Kosmos allays gas flaring fears

Brian Maxted, Chief Executive Officer of Kosmos Energy, one of the partners in the Jubilee oilfield, has said that there are a lot of options to deal with the storage of the associated gas, assuaging concerns that delays in the development of Ghana’s gas infrastructure could force gas flaring.

“We have got enough options to ensure that we do not compromise the oil development...We will not undermine the gas storage, and we will not undermine the ability to produce oil,” he told journalists on the sidelines at the opening of the company’s ultra-modern office complex at Dzorwulu in Accra.

“We are going to continue oil production for the next 20 to 25 years at Jubilee, and we will find a solution to the gas one way or another. Those solutions go way beyond when the gas infrastructure will be on stream and operational,” he insisted.

The gas could be injected into other reservoirs and stored, he said, even though getting the gas onshore for power generation is more crucial for him.

“I think you are putting too much emphasis on the delay of the gas. I want to see the gas come to shore primarily because it is a cheap form of energy for the people of Ghana. It would mean that you don’t need to burn oil to generate electricity,” he said.

Government made it clear from the beginning of oil production that it was not going to allow the flaring of associated gas from the Jubilee oilfield, both for environmental reasons and due to the urgent need of gas for power generation.

Delays in the “early phase” Gas Infrastructure Development Project, which began in early 2012, has, however, led to speculation that in order to save the oil reservoir from possible damage, operators of Jubilee may be forced to flare the gas.

This is especially so because the operators had said earlier that the gas could not be re-injected into the reservoir beyond a certain period.

Asked whether the reinjection of the gas into the oil reservoir could jeopardise the reservoir, Brian Maxted admitted “potentially it could; that’s a fact”, adding that the oil and gas business is a very technical one where there are always threats to the development of oilfields.

He, however, insisted that, in this specific case, the partners have enough options to ensure oil production is not jeopardised.

Kosmos Energy has a working interest of 24.1% in the Jubilee oilfield, which currently produces 110,000 barrels of oil per day, and 19% of the Tweneboa, Enyira and Ntomme (TEN) project.

Brian Maxted disclosed that the company is investing US$400million in Ghana in 2013 to cover its commitments in Jubilee and other projects.