Ghana expands oil adventure

Ghana's National Petroleum Corporation today has issued 11 new exploration licenses, further expanding the exploration rush off its promising coast. First oil revenues are already planned for 2010.

Large tracts of the Ghanaian coast are already being licensed and explored, with a major discovery by Tullow Oil in 2007 causing a rush of interest. Tullow's discovery, the Jubilee Field, will be put into production next year, representing Ghana's first oil production. But only in March this year, the British oil company made a new discovery on the deepwater Tano licence some 25 kilometres west of Jubilee, which has yet to prove viable.

So far, most exploration has been concentrated on the offshore Côte d'Ivoire border area, but oil companies lately have been expanding their drilling activities to the central and eastern parts of Ghana's offshore territory, where promising geological structures and traces of hydrocarbons keeps optimism up high.

The new licensing round by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation is a continuation of this trend of expanding the exploration area. Ghanaian authorities are eager to make new discoveries as the population's expectations for a new oil economy are rising.

Government has been actively promoting foreign investments in its oil sector, but is also pumping up it National Petroleum Corporation to make sure national capital and labour can take part in the upcoming sector.

As the oil age seems to be coming closer, authorities are now announcing a review of oil and gas policies to avoid similar developments as in Nigeria. Ghanaian Minister for Energy, Joe Oteng-Adjei, only this week called for a review of policies on oil and gas to ensure effective management, guarantee sustainability and protect the environment.

By staff writer

Source: afrol New