Our oil blocks are ready to be tapped - Energy Minister to investors in London

Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has called on investors in London to take advantage of the numerous opportunities in Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry.

Dr. Prempeh who leads the Ghanaian delegation is seeking to put on show six (6) available oil blocks for massive investment which are the Deep Water Cape Three Points Block, Offshore Cape Three Points South Block, Shallow Water Cape Three Points Block and Southwest Saltpond Block.

It also includes the Expanded Shallow Water Tano (ESWT) Block, and Offshore Cape Three Points South (OCTPS) Block

Speaking at a strategic roadshow event at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London, Dr. Prempeh said told investors that Ghana has four Sedimentary basins of significance to oil and gas namely; Western, Central, Eastern and the Voltaian.

He explained that the Western basin has Ghana’s three actively producing deepwater oil and gas fields adding that the Voltaian basin is situated onshore while the remaining two are largely offshore.

"Most parts of the offshore basins are open for E&P activities. GNPC is currently exploring the Voltaian Basin to establish its prospectivity, following which the basin will be open to investors” the Energy Minister said.

Dr Opoku Prempeh also told investors that the Jubilee Field became Ghana’s first commercial deepwater discovery which further deepened the interest in deepwater exploration in the country.

“Having fast-tracked the development of the Jubilee Field, first commercial oil production commenced in December 2010, barely 40 months from discovery” he added.

He continued, “two new fields (Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) Field and Sankofa - Gye Nyame Field) have since been brought onstream for production in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The three producing (3) fields currently provide an average daily production of about 150,000 bbl/d from a peak production rate of approximately 200,000 bbl/d.”

“Three of the six available blocks are available for farm-in opportunities. These are Expanded Shallow Water Tano (ESWT) currently operated by Base Energy Ghana Limited, Deep-Water Cape Three Points (DWCTP) originally operated by ExxonMobil, but now operated by Goil Upstream Limited. The third of these is the Offshore South-West Tano, operated by OSWT & EK Operating Company Limited” he explained.

He also told investors about Ghana’s stable political and business climate, a highly prospective sedimentary basin with its commensurate high exploration success rate, its guaranteed and attractive fiscal terms, and the well-defined legal and regulatory framework.

Dr. Opoku Prempeh also highlighted the availability of existing architecture to support infrastructure-led exploration, which shortens the time between exploration and production.

He thus urged investors to find in Ghana a friend and partner.

Meanwhile, the Energy Ministry in September 2022 led similar road shows in Houston and Aberdeen as part of efforts to position Ghana’s upstream sector strategically for the needed investment.