In response to the recent withdrawal of the unitization directive, veteran broadcaster David Ampofo, and the CEO of the Upstream Petroleum Chamber, spoke extensively about the oil and gas industry in a recent interview with Business & Financial Times.
He said that there is already excitement in the air and that the industry has been energized. He added that they (the petroleum industry) are once again looking for business activity to pick up.
“There will finally be movement on so many contracts that have been warehoused for years. The truth is that the industry has been at a standstill since 2020”.
The CEO of UPC said despite their best efforts, the Chamber was unable to persuade the previous administration to take action about that mandate.
“We met with the new minister, Mr. John Jinapor, and he assured us of governments commitment to resolving the issue and he has kept his word”.
Regarding Eni, he stated that it is a world leader and has made several discoveries in Ghana. It implies that they can continue to produce gas and oil and deepen their relationship with the nation to help us satisfy our development-related energy needs.
“It is time to pull our resources together to develop the country and our people. We must ensure that Ghana reverses the declining trend of national oil production from a peak of 195,000 barrels per day in 2019 to current levels which are around 120,000 barrels per day”.
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Springfield:
Springfield plays a significant role in this sector. Being one of Ghana’s top oil and gas companies, it merits all the help it can get. However, he stated It is regrettable that arbitration was required. But now that everyone has moved over this, they can continue their exploratory efforts and eventually advance their field. They can make significant contributions to the industry.
David Ampofo also discussed the industry’s anticipated future prospects in Ghana.
“There is a short term and the medium to long term. In the short term, the industry is likely to experience a rebound led by ENI/Vitol and Tullow/Kosmos. Over the medium to long term, we must do whatever we can to support them as well as Pecan Energies to make Ghana once again a choice destination for oil and gas investors”.
“We are really hopeful that there will be some movement on this front. New investment must flow in as well. There are large unexplored acreages offshore. There is immense potential in our four oil basins – Tano/Cape Three Points, Saltpond, Accra-Keta and Voltaian. Currently only a fraction of the Tano basin is active and producing”.
“New ideas abound about what steps to take to maximise production. One such idea is that of infrastructure led exploration, ILX, which means finding additional oil and gas resources within reach of already existing production and storage infrastructure”.
“Let me also say that the recent successes of new oil discoveries by Eni in Ivory Coast should be a source of inspiration for the prospectivity of Ghana’s hydrocarbon potential”.
“The recent visits by the CEO of ENi and the Chairman of Tullow are a good sign of a revived partnership. They are the two producing operators in Ghana and are more likely to see an increase in drilling going forward”.
“They already have activities which are key to immediate revenue for the State. Once drilling begins, the associated value chain of businesses will also become active. When exploration and production is ongoing, international and indigenous service companies have business”.
“All this means increased prospects for the growth of indigenous Ghanaian companies and the attainment of our local content objectives. That is why we must demonstrate Ghana’s readiness for investments in the upstream industry, both from existing oil and gas companies and new companies”.
On investor attractions, Ampofo said:
“Once you create a conducive business environment, the companies will flock to the country. But we have to get things right. There are various aspects of business that we are talking to government about such as protecting the sanctity of contracts, honoring the stabilization provisions in existing Petroleum Agreements, ensuring the predictability of the regulatory regime and generally improving the business environment by striking the right balance between regulatory processes and business support. Every effort must be made to enable and sustain investor confidence”.
Credit: Business & Financial Times
