A total of 16 oil companies have submitted 60 applications for Ghana’s auctioned oil blocks in the Western Region.
It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo auctioned six offshore oil blocks in Cape Three Points during the launch of the first-ever Oil and Gas Licensing Round on October 15, 2018 at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel in Accra.
Minister of Energy and Petroleum, John Peter Amewu, said of the above mentioned figure, 58 applications were valid.
“Out of this 74%, (43) were interested in competitive bidding and 26% (15) were for Direct Negotiation; Two (2) other applications for Block 1 were invalidated. This is because this block has been reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).”
According to him, the two companies that have expressed interest in Block 1 would have to hold discussions with GNPC for possible partnership opportunities.
The 16 include ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Tullow Ghana Limited, Total, ENI Ghana, Vitol, Kosmos Energy, Aker Energy.
The rest, he said, were China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Cairn Energy, Qatar Petroleum, Global Petroleum Group, First E&P, Sasol, Equinor and Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation.
According to Mr. Amewu, the competitive tender process was the first ever since the discovery of oil in Ghana, adding that it’s aimed at ensuring transparency, value for money and getting companies with the requisite financial and technical expertise to exploit the oil and gas resource.
By Melvin Tarlue