Ghana - Oil and GasGhana - Oil and Gas
Overview
Efforts to commercialize Ghana’s offshore hydrocarbon reserves go back more than 25 years to the establishment of the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC). Attempts by GNPC to independently assess and take advantage of oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Guinea met with limited success. After more than a decade of unsuccessful exploration, GNPC sought out international partners to assist in their efforts. The result was the 2007 discovery by Dallas-based Kosmos of significant deep water oil and gas reserves in what is now called the Jubilee Field, 60 km offshore. Production began in 2010 and is managed by Tullow, Kosmos and Anadarko in partnership with GNPC. Total production currently amounts to approximately 100,000 barrels of oil and 80 Mscf/d of natural gas (thousand standard cubic feet a day).
Ghana’s parliament passed extensive amendments to its Petroleum Revenue Management Act and the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill which updates a 1984 petroleum law and seeks to make the management of Ghana’s petroleum resources more transparent. Many oil and gas sector stakeholders have publicly expressed their support for the new legislation. However, there are still a few elements that could cause concern for oil and gas companies seeking to do business in Ghana. The bill, for example, gives the Minister of Petroleum the power to reject a petroleum contract, even after a tender process has been concluded.
In addition to the sole active field – Jubilee – Ghana’s Petroleum Commission has allocated rights to develop 16 additional fields. Hydrocarbon production in the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) oil field began in August 2016 and it has an estimated reserve of 300 million barrels of oil and gas to be produced and processed over the next 20 years.
The 2016 maritime border dispute with Cote d’Ivoire temporarily halted offshore oil production until the case was settled by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). The eventual September 2017 ruling in favor of Ghana, increased Ghana’s offshore territory by 80 square kilometers, clearing the way for oil and gas developers to resume drilling in an area. Current oil production is expected to increase by more than 200 percent by 2019, which will contribute to Ghana’s economic growth and its foreign exchange reserves. Oil production in the Sankofa fields began in 2017 with an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and around 500 million barrels of oil. First gas is commenced in July 2018.
With an oil sector that is in effect less than 10 years old, Ghana has limited domestic capacity to serve the multinational oil companies that are commercializing the offshore petroleum reserves. Domestic companies have very limited experience in providing technical services to the offshore operators; onshore services are somewhat more mature but still significantly under-developed. Nevertheless the Government of Ghana has recently established local content requirements that mandate minimum levels of participation by local companies. For some portions of the oil and gas sector, at least 10 percent of equity will have to be held by domestic Ghanaian firms. Power Africa has also successfully aided the expansion of the Ghanaian gas sector by establishing partial risk guarantees, investment lending, and technical assistance that have been key to developing promising natural gas fields.
Sub-Sector Best Prospects
There is an immediate need for oil and gas service firms that are able to partner with indigenous Ghanaian companies to support the offshore activities of the international oil companies. Domestic Ghanaian companies do not have the ability to provide a broad range of services despite local content requirements mandating a minimum level of local participation. Joint-venture firms with foreign partners contributing technology and know-how to a partnership with a reliable local company will be highly sought-after.
Opportunities
In addition to providing equipment and services directly to the exploration and production companies, training programs to increase the capacity of Ghanaian firms to provide these services are likely to be highly successful.
For additional information on current opportunities, please contact the U.S. Commercial Service Ghana.Web Resources
Ghana Petroleum Commission
Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC)
Ghana National Petroleum Authority
Ghana Oil Company
Ghana Revenue Authority
Ghana Standards Authority
Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.
Efforts to commercialize Ghana’s offshore hydrocarbon reserves go back more than 25 years to the establishment of the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC). Attempts by GNPC to independently assess and take advantage of oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Guinea met with limited success. After more than a decade of unsuccessful exploration, GNPC sought out international partners to assist in their efforts. The result was the 2007 discovery by Dallas-based Kosmos of significant deep water oil and gas reserves in what is now called the Jubilee Field, 60 km offshore. Production began in 2010 and is managed by Tullow, Kosmos and Anadarko in partnership with GNPC. Total production currently amounts to approximately 100,000 barrels of oil and 80 Mscf/d of natural gas (thousand standard cubic feet a day).
Ghana’s parliament passed extensive amendments to its Petroleum Revenue Management Act and the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill which updates a 1984 petroleum law and seeks to make the management of Ghana’s petroleum resources more transparent. Many oil and gas sector stakeholders have publicly expressed their support for the new legislation. However, there are still a few elements that could cause concern for oil and gas companies seeking to do business in Ghana. The bill, for example, gives the Minister of Petroleum the power to reject a petroleum contract, even after a tender process has been concluded.
In addition to the sole active field – Jubilee – Ghana’s Petroleum Commission has allocated rights to develop 16 additional fields. Hydrocarbon production in the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) oil field began in August 2016 and it has an estimated reserve of 300 million barrels of oil and gas to be produced and processed over the next 20 years.
The 2016 maritime border dispute with Cote d’Ivoire temporarily halted offshore oil production until the case was settled by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). The eventual September 2017 ruling in favor of Ghana, increased Ghana’s offshore territory by 80 square kilometers, clearing the way for oil and gas developers to resume drilling in an area. Current oil production is expected to increase by more than 200 percent by 2019, which will contribute to Ghana’s economic growth and its foreign exchange reserves. Oil production in the Sankofa fields began in 2017 with an estimated 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and around 500 million barrels of oil. First gas is commenced in July 2018.
With an oil sector that is in effect less than 10 years old, Ghana has limited domestic capacity to serve the multinational oil companies that are commercializing the offshore petroleum reserves. Domestic companies have very limited experience in providing technical services to the offshore operators; onshore services are somewhat more mature but still significantly under-developed. Nevertheless the Government of Ghana has recently established local content requirements that mandate minimum levels of participation by local companies. For some portions of the oil and gas sector, at least 10 percent of equity will have to be held by domestic Ghanaian firms. Power Africa has also successfully aided the expansion of the Ghanaian gas sector by establishing partial risk guarantees, investment lending, and technical assistance that have been key to developing promising natural gas fields.
Sub-Sector Best Prospects
There is an immediate need for oil and gas service firms that are able to partner with indigenous Ghanaian companies to support the offshore activities of the international oil companies. Domestic Ghanaian companies do not have the ability to provide a broad range of services despite local content requirements mandating a minimum level of local participation. Joint-venture firms with foreign partners contributing technology and know-how to a partnership with a reliable local company will be highly sought-after.
Opportunities
In addition to providing equipment and services directly to the exploration and production companies, training programs to increase the capacity of Ghanaian firms to provide these services are likely to be highly successful.
For additional information on current opportunities, please contact the U.S. Commercial Service Ghana.Web Resources
Ghana Petroleum Commission
Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC)
Ghana National Petroleum Authority
Ghana Oil Company
Ghana Revenue Authority
Ghana Standards Authority
Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.