Vitol said that the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas project offshore Ghana has commenced delivery of gas from the Sankofa field to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
Image: An offshore drilling platform. Photo: courtesy of QR9iudjz0/Freeimages.com.
Both Vitol and GNPC are partners in the OCTP project alongside operator Eni. The offshore project is expected to provide stable supplies of cost effective and environmentally friendly, domestic fuel for the Ghanaian power sector, said Vitol.
The company, in a statement, said: “In addition, Ghana will benefit significantly from GNPC’s carried and participating interest in the project, Ghana’s royalty share of oil and gas production and taxes paid by Vitol and Eni.”
The Swiss energy and commodities company further said that the projected cost of gas to Ghana will be under $4.5/MMBtu, which will greatly lower the country’s fuel costs compared to liquid fuels or imported gas.
The OCTP integrated oil & gas development is made up of Sankofa Main, Gye-Nyame and Sankofa East fields which are located approximately 60km off Western Region coast of Ghana. The three fields have close to 770 million barrel of oil equivalent (mboe) in place, which include 500 million barrels of oil and 270 mboe of non-associated gas.
The offshore project is expected to bring in $7.9bn of investment in Ghana through its full life. At the same time, it is projected to supply nearly 180 MMscf/d for more than 15 years, which will be enough to cover half of Ghana’s power generation requirements.
Production at the OCTP project, which began in May 2017, has been carried out using the John Agyekum Kufuor floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO). The vessel is expected to draw up to 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by drilling 18 underwater wells.
The produced gas is transported through a 63km submarine pipeline to Sanzule’s onshore receiving facilities where it is processed and transmitted to the national grid.
While Eni holds a stake of 44.44% stake in the OCTP project, Vitol holds 35.56% with GNPC owning the remaining stake of 20%.