Ghana says has interest from one company to explore offshore Eastern basin

Ghana has received interest from a company to explore the Eastern basin, which may yield the country's largest oil find, the director of resource management at Ghana's Petroleum Commission told S&P Global Platts.

Direct negotiations with the company, which he declined to identify, are an option prescribed in the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, Richard Addo Darko said Nov. 9 on the sidelines of the Africa Oil Week in Dubai.

The Ministry of Energy launched 11 blocks in the Eastern, or Keta, basin for direct negotiation in 2020, he said.

The Eastern basin exploration area is a deepwater environment about 50 to 100 nautical miles off the coast of Ghana, covering 32,000 sq km, he said.

Devon Energy and Hunt Oil explored in the basin in the 1990s, and the hydrocarbon resources are likely influenced by the Volta River, Darko said.

"We know there are prospects in the Eastern basin, but a lot of work needs to be done to make sure the prospects are productive," Darko said.

More seismic data is being sought to investigate the potential resources, he said. "If Ghana is going to find its largest oil find, it's going to be in the Eastern basin," he said.

Ghana's largest find so far, the Jubilee field, is currently producing about 80,000 b/d and has close to 1 billion barrels of oil resources, Darko said. Tullow Oil began drilling at Jubilee in April, and has drilled three wells so far in the field to boost production from 72,000 b/d earlier in the year on a gross basis to now 82,000 b/d, CEO Rahul Dhir said in an interview at Africa Oil Week. It's also drilled one well at Ghana's Ten field which just came onstream and "hasn't quite impacted production yet," he said.

The country's first licensing round held in 2018 was for the Western basin and negotiations to award winners are at an advanced stage with Italy's Eni, the Ghana National Petroleum Corp. and First E&P, a local energy company, Darko said.