The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is prepared to sell its share of crude oil from the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) oilfields in the Western Region to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
It said it was also ready to dialogue with its partners to sell either all or part of their share of crude oil from the TEN oilfields to TOR.
TOR was faced with numerous challenges resulting in the refinery not producing for a couple of years but it has surmounted its problems and currently refining crude products.
The TEN project, which has 80 per cent oil and 20 per cent gas reserves, is expected to experience its first drop of crude oil on August 18, 2016.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GNPC, Mr Alex K. M. Mould, told journalists after the lead operator of the TEN project, Tullow Ghana Limited, had held an exhibition on the project, that crude oil would be sold to TOR on the same terms as pertained with other companies.
Ghana currently has 15 per cent carried interest in the TEN project but MrMould said Ghana would benefit 35 to 50 per cent more in the form of taxes and royalties after the investors had recouped their investment.
“It is a win-win situation,” MrMould added.
Shell to purchase first oil
Meanwhile, the first consignment of crude oil from the TEN oilfields in the Western Region will be sold to Shell, the Director of the TEN Project, Mr Terry Hughes, had earlier disclosed.
He said the lifespan of the TEN field was 25 years and further indicated that production would begin at 23,000 barrels per day and gradually increase to 80,000 barrels per day.
Mr Hughes took the audience, including journalists, partners and investors, through a video, highlighting the process in the building of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel which had been named after the late President John Evans Atta Mills.
He said a lot of lessons had been learnt from the operations of the Jubilee oilfields, which, to him, would go a long way to benefit the TEN project.
Tullow MD
The Managing Director of Tullow Ghana Limited, Mr Charles Darku, described the completion of the exploration of the TEN fields as a huge achievement, and gave an assurance that the project would be delivered on time and on budget.
He said projects such as the TEN developments were often late and usually exceeded budget but that was not the case with that project.
“To show its commitment to local content and ensure Ghanaian involvement, we have tried to make this project as local and as Ghanaian as possible and I am pleased with the efforts that the TEN team have made both to use local suppliers as much as they can and to use Ghanaian staff,” MrDarku noted.
He said the project “cements our relationship with Ghana once again and is the culmination of a project that began with the first TEN discovery – the Tweneboa-1 well – back in 2009.”
“Seven years from discovery to first oil is short by industry standards and also demonstrates that projects of this nature involve serious commitment, investment and time,” MrDarku said.
Kosmos Boss
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kosmos Energy, Mr Joe Mensah, commended the media for their support and said the operations of the partners in Ghana came with success stories that needed to be told.
Answering questions on the benefits of Ghana’s oil find to the ordinary Ghanaian, the CEO of the Petroleum Commission, MrTheophilusAhwireng, said there were quite a number of success stories.
For instance, he noted that the partners on the Jubilee and TEN oilfields had engaged in community services to provide basic amenities and scholarships to students.
Source: http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/gnpc-set-to-sell-ten-crude-oil-to-tor.html |
