Shell and Chevron have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities in Ghana’s Eastern Keta Basin, Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) Chief Executive Officer Simon Madjie has disclosed.
Brazilian oil company Petrobras has also expressed interest in Ghana’s available oil acreage and blocks, signalling growing activity in the country’s petroleum sector.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, Mr Madjie said discussions involving Shell and Chevron were ongoing following the agreement signed during Africa Oil Week.
“But what we all know is that at Africa Oil Week, Chevron and Shell signed an MOU to look at work in the Eastern Keta Basin. So that’s ongoing,” he said.
He also cited reports of Petrobras’ interest in Ghana’s oil assets as another significant development.
“We also saw the interest of Petrobras announced in the newspapers, you know, to really look at some of the acreages and blocks that the country has,” he added.
Mr Madjie linked the exploration interest to investment commitments announced by companies already operating in Ghana’s oil industry.
He referenced plans by the Jubilee partners to invest $2 billion in drilling 20 wells in the Jubilee field, alongside a separate $1.5 billion investment announcement by ENI and its partners.
“And so there’s a lot of activities within that space. I’m sure folks at the Petroleum Commission will give you a lot more technical details,” he said.
While the developments point to continued interest in Ghana’s petroleum resources, Mr Madjie deferred questions about the technical details of the proposed exploration activities to the Petroleum Commission and the Ministry of Energy.
On a possible return by ExxonMobil to Ghana, the GIPA CEO acknowledged that discussions had taken place but declined to provide further details.
“I knew that there were some talks for them to come back. It’s not something that can be disclosed now,” he said.
He directed further enquiries on the matter to the authorities responsible for the sector.
“So I, I think you leave that entirely to the Minister of Energy and Petroleum Commission,” he added.
