The Italian group Eni, Vitol and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) have signed on the 27th January with the President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, and the Minister of Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the agreement to proceed with the OCTP integrated oil & gas project in Ghana.
The OCTP licence comprises of five fields: Sankofa Main , Sankofa East , Gye Nyame , Sankofa East Cenomanian, and Sankofa East Campanian.
The development is located in the Offshore Cape Three Points, (OCTP) licence covers approximately 60 km offshore of the Ghanaian coast.
According to a statement released by ENI, the first oil production would occur in 2017 and that of the gas in 2018, said the Italian oil and gas group which indicates that it would reach a maximum production of 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.
The Offshore Cape Three Points project is situated in water depth of 600 – 1000 m. The fields will be produced via sub-sea production systems located on the sea bed, sending the oil and gas to the surface by flowlines and risers connected to a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
“We are harnessing Ghana’s natural resources to power Ghana’s future” said Ghana’s Head of state, President Mahama at the signing ceremony.
“We are harnessing Ghana’s natural resources to power Ghana’s future. The Sankofa development will provide the reliable energy source needed to accelerate the economic growth of our country. For the first time, GNPC, working with ENI and Vitol and the World Bank is delivering a domestic solution to our power sector. This is indeed a remarkable achievement – the largest single project Foreign Direct Investment inflow to Ghana since Independence.” He added
According to Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, the OCTP development is a robust integrated oil and gas project that will provide the reliable energy source needed to accelerate the economic growth of Ghana by delivering a domestic solution to feed the power sector.
“The sanction of this significant project comes after less than 2 years from the completion of a successful exploration campaign. Once again, in the best tradition of Eni, we deliver fast-track organic growth addressing in a sustainable manner the energy requirements of the host country, in line with the Eni model in Africa” He said.
“This is a transformational project for Ghana and we are proud to be a part of such an important venture. Vitol has been supplying energy to Ghana for over 25 years and we are delighted to be able to contribute to the development of Ghana’s economy through a major domestic energy solution.” Said Ian Taylor, President and CEO of Vitol.
The Eni group has been active in Ghana since 2009, operates the block with OCTP 47.22% stake via the subsidiary Eni Ghana, alongside with Vitol partners (37.77%) and GNPC (15%).