In its quest to strengthen its foothold in the country’s oil and gas industry, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has acquired commercial interests in the Jubilee and the TEN fields.
The national oil company now has seven per cent commercial interest in both the Jubilee and the TEN fields, having taken over part of the interest of one of the blocks’ shareholders, Occidental Petroleum (OXY).
The GNPC paid $199 million in a transaction which took effect from April 1, this year and signals the company’s resolve to become a dominant player in the industry.
“Consideration due OXY at completion was approximately $165 million, after taking into account closing adjustments. Occidental had, prior to this transaction, acquired the Ghana assets of Anardarko,” a statement announcing the transaction said.
The acquisition adds to the GNPC’s existing carried and participating interest of 13.64 per cent in the Jubilee Field and 15 per cent in the TEN Field.
The interests acquired will be transferred to a subsidiary of the GNPC, the GNPC Exploration and Production Company (GNPC Explorco).
“With this acquisition, GNPC Explorco will become part of the contractor group for the two blocks, together with Tullow, Petro SA and Kosmos (which also bought additional interest in the two blocks),” the release said.
The move, hailed by some industry watchers, is said to be in line with the GNPC and the government’s strategy of increasing the company’s participating stakes in viable oil blocks, going forward.
The Chief Executive of the GNPC, Dr Kofi Koduah Sarpong, said “this acquisition is of immense benefit to the GNPC, as it allows GNPC Explorco to start generating cashflow for its activities”.
He said there was also a debt write-off in excess of $30 million from Kosmos Energy, which had also agreed to train GNPC technical staff in support of the GNPC’s quest to build operator capacity.
