Paul Apraku Twum Barimah
The Dormaa East Parliamentary Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, says a recent report by Fitch Solutions predicting an increase in Ghana’s oil production next year has strengthened investor confidence.
According to him, an increase in oil production was a good omen for the country as this would translate into increased government revenue in the sector.
Fitch Solutions, the research arm of ratings agency, Fitch, said the longer-term outlook for the country’s crude oil production was positive. It based it on the expectation for continued field developments, indicating that the nation’s oil production was expected to increase by two per cent in 2021.
Mr. Twum Barimah, who is also an energy expert, told DAILY GUIDE that Ghana gained 1.3% in receipts from crude oil exports when crude oil traded at an average US$63.7 per barrel on the international market in January this year.
“Oil revenue has gone a long way to cushion Ghana’s economy even in the heat of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ghana’s potential in the oil industry is positive and we must all expect a positive outlook in the coming months as production increases,” he stated.
The MP aspirant indicated that among the assets that held the highest benefit in Ghana was the Pecan field, located on the Gulf of Guinea, with total production capacity of 110,000 barrels per day.
He said the Pecan Field, operated by Aker Energy, was the largest of several discoveries made, and added that the Sankofa Field operated by ENI had rather been the key in providing energy to Ghana since 2019, with capacity to produce 1,000 megawatts through power plants that provided electricity for around 1.6 million households and many businesses which needed reliable power.
“Since Sankofa came online, Ghana’s annual oil import had dropped by 12 million barrels. The field is currently producing over 171 million standard cubic feet per day and operators are paying five per cent royalty to government in kind. GNPC gets 20% of the rest as per its stake in the project,” Mr. Barimah disclosed.
He continued that the Pecan Field was estimated to contain about 334 million barrels of oil equivalents and required a projected investment of $4.4 billion.
“Aker Energy operates the block with a 50% stake in partnership with Russia’s Lukoil (38%), state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (10%) and Fuel-trade (two per cent).”
For him, the strong performance at Jubilee and TEN was a positive development for Ghana’s oil sector since they were Ghana’s two most productive fields.
He indicated that recent figures from Tullow Oil showed that gross production at the Jubilee and TEN fields averaged 136,700 barrels of oil per day between January and August.
“This is better than what it had anticipated coming into the year. Last year, the country recorded 4.4 billion dollars from crude oil exports,” he said.
A business desk report