Accelerated Exploration: Ghana’s Key to Sustainable Oil and Gas Production

Gerald Wemazenu Adda & George Owusu- Fordwouh

Petroleum Commission, Ghana.

March,2020

Petroleum is a valuable non-renewable resource; one that starts its journey as living plants and
animals which upon death are incorporated into sediments. The remains of the plants and animals
are preserved under anoxic condition, and gradually subside to great depths in the Earth’s Crust
as they get buried beneath hundreds of metres of sediments. The pressure exerted by the
overlying sediments and the increasing temperature with depth of burial converts the organism
remains initially into Kerogen and then Petroleum. The entire process takes several million years.
Petroleum produced in modern day was formed millions of years ago.
Typically, when a country discovers petroleum in commercial quantities, it witnesses a major
boost in its economic activities including the influx of foreign business and growth of local
businesses with the attendant creation of direct, indirect and induced jobs. This is true for Ghana;
a country with a history of petroleum exploration dating back to the nineteenth century and
culminating with the discovery of one of the world’s largest deepwater oil fields in 2007.

The Jubilee Field represents Ghana’s first major commercial oil discovery. The field was
discovered by the Mahogany-1 Exploration Well in Kosmos Energy’s West Cape Three Points
Contract Area, offshore Ghana. On the heels of the Jubilee Field discovery, twenty-seven
additional discoveries had been made by various Licensees as of 2019. The latest of these being
the Akoma Discovery, the Nyankom Discovery and the Afina Discovery made by Eni Ghana, AGM
Petroleum Ghana and Springfield E&P respectively.

Two additional fields have been brought on stream after Jubilee Field i.e. the Tweneboa Enyenra
Ntomme (TEN) Field by the Jubilee Partners and the Sankofa-Gye Nyame Field by Eni Ghana.
Aker Energy Ghana has also commenced pre-developmental activities for the discoveries in the
Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points Contract Area.

The lifespan of oil and gas fields typically range from 15 to 30 years or more depending on the
size of the field. Naturally, few wells are drilled to deliver first oil or first gas, following which
production is ramped up gradually as more wells are drilled. This stage is the Start-up Phase and
spans between two to three years. The daily production is gradually increased (by drilling
additional wells) until production stabilizes. At this stage, the field delivers Plateau production for
three to five years or more, depending on the size of the field. Following the Plateau production
and after a significant volume of the reserves are produced, the field begins to experience
declining production. This continues until production volumes are no longer economic.

For an oil producing Nation to continue deriving revenue from petroleum production for
development, it must continue to encourage exploration within its Sedimentary Basins with the
objective of making discoveries to replace produced volumes and increase the national petroleum
reserve base.

Between 2013 and 2016, thirteen (13) Petroleum Agreements were ratified by the Government of
Ghana with various Contractors to explore new acreage. Most of these Contractors had work
programme obligations including the drilling of at least one exploration well. The protracted
maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire (2015-2017) and the global dip in
oil price impacted the Contractors and thus the fulfilment of their respective work programme
obligations. This slowed the pace of exploration and lowered the nation’s petroleum reserve
replacement.

Ghana is pursuing an agenda of accelerated and sustained exploration in its basins to grow the
nation’s petroleum reserve base. The promulgation of the Petroleum (Exploration & Production)
Act 2016, Act 919 and its attendant regulations assured investors of regulatory predictability and
a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. The launch of Ghana’s Maiden Licensing
Round in 2018 provided investors the opportunity to participate in the nation’s E&P sector and
create shared value.

Contractors that were impacted by the moratorium of the maritime boundary dispute have been
granted extensions to their respective exploration periods to enable them to complete their
minimum work obligations.

The Petroleum Commission has engaged Seismic Contractors to acquire multiclient Seismic Data
over the offshore sedimentary basins using state of the art technologies. The data will add value
to the basins and attract investors to participate in future licensing rounds, acquire blocks and
undertake exploration.

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is also spearheading exploration works
within the inland Voltaian Basin. Already, 2D Seismic and Geochemical data have been acquired
and are being analyzed. The initial phase of these exploratory works will culminate with the drilling
of two wells to establish the stratigraphy of the basin. This will be the foundational work for further
exploration.

Ghana’s Upstream Petroleum Industry has grown significantly since the discovery of the Jubilee
Field in 2007. The Ghana Margin is gaining ground as a world class petroleum province as major
oil companies compete for exploration acreage and key upstream service providers use Ghana
as a hub for their operations.

Ghana’s proactive approach to pursue accelerated and sustained exploration guarantees that its
upstream industry will remain vibrant and continue to record significant growth and success for
the foreseeable future.