Ghana 
Oil fever grips Ghana

afrol News, 14 October - "Is it true? Do we have oil now?" Ghanaians do still not know whether to trust the reports that come in ever shorter intervals. But yes, the existence of significant oil reserves offshore the energy crisis-ridden country seems confirmed. And for once, there is international interest in exploiting these resources. 

The British oil company Dana Petroleum Plc has confirmed the discovery of "very large fan structures" that have the potential to contain several hundred million barrels of crude oil off the Ghanaian coast, in deep waters. There has earlier been found traces of oil in the Western Tano deep-water area, further indicating the high probability of commercial quantities. There were plans of installing "the first deep-water well in late 2003."

According to the company's mid-year review, another shallow-water exploration well in Ghana now also was "nearing completion". Tom Cross, chief executive of Dana, commented "we should be able to report further exploration results in the near future."

Albert Kan-Dapaah, Ghanaian Minister for Mines and Energy, earlier had to knock on oil companies' doors to humbly ask them to produce some interest for his country's potential oil reserves. Nobody doubted there could be some amounts of oil offshore Ghana, but starting new operations of deep-water drilling off an African country was just not interesting - some months ago.

Further, the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation had spent years drilling for oil in shallower waters making no sustainable discoveries. At the government's frustration, large amounts of state funds were spent without results. No foreign investments were made available.

Now, oil prices are up and set to rise even more. Someone remembered that Ghana was a politically stable nation and Dana Petroleum has demonstrated that the Ghanaian potential could be enormous. Even Sudan's total known oil reserves - in middle of a civil war-ravaged landscape - barely amount to Dana's assessment of the potential of each of the fans in Ghana's Western Tano deep-water area.

Minister Kan-Dapaah is therefore suddenly becoming a favourite meeting partner of the world's major oil companies. "The majors are in exploratory talks with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation," he confirmed in a recent interview with the news agency Reuters. He would not name any company, though.

But Mr Kan-Dapaah visibly has grown in confidence. Ghana has so far only produced a few thousand barrels of oil in its entire history. The Minister however already is talking about raising production to more than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the next five years. 

So far, only exploration deals have been made - especially with US companies. According to the Accra-based 'Ghanaian Chronicle', Vanco Energy Company from Houston, Texas, is planning to invest US$ 30 million in oil exploration off Ghana. Further, the US companies Devon Energy Corp and EnCana Corp jointly were investing US$ 56 million.

The Ghanaian press is exited. The 'Ghanaian Chronicle' titled its main headline today "Ghana Now Sits on Oil". 'Ghanaweb' reports that "Ghana's Oil Prospects Look Bright". Oil fever is rapidly spreading across the nation - at the same time as Minister Kan-Dapaah is struggling with a major energy crisis. It looks too good to be true.

The hope-bearers, Dana Petroleum, however maintain drilling off Ghana "is yielding excellent results." Why wait for the final results?

Sources: Based on Dana, Ghanaian govt and press and afrol archives

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