Page 10 - AfrOil Week 06 2021

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil

As such, Algoa-Gamtoos is now estimated to (Gamtoos basin) parts of the block and helped
contain a summed mean of 5.273bn barrels of identify new exploration targets, including
oil equivalent (boe), including a summed mean a deeper slope section and a basic floor fan
of 1.983bn boe in recoverable resources. section.
New Age adjusted its estimate upwards, The partners are now more optimistic about
Tower said, partly on the strength of indications the possibility of discovering large hydrocarbon
that the deepwater (Outeniqua basin) parts of its reserves at Algoa-Gamtoos. The licence area is
licence area were likely to hold more hydrocar- adjacent to Block 11B/12B, where France’s Total
bons than previously anticipated. has discovered more than 1bn barrels of gas con-
However, the reprocessing operation also densate in Brulpadda and Luiperd fields in the
had positive implications for the shallow-water Outeniqua basin. ™

POLICY
Ghanaian government seeks local

feedback on petroleum hub plans

CAMEROON THE government of Ghana has begun seek- will be affected by the project.
ing input from local stakeholders for its plan Another attendee – Ernest Kofie, the CEO of
to establish an oil industry hub in Bonyere, a the Jomoro municipal district – said he expected
coastal town near the border with Côte d’Ivoire. the project to benefit the local economy by
Officials in Accra have said they hope to attracting additional investment. Kofie also
build this hub on a 20,000-acre (80.93-square speculated, though, that it would draw migrant
km) site in the Jomoro municipal district, which workers looking for jobs. As such, he said, the
lies within the country’s Western region. municipal assembly is working to improve
The complex will be home to multiple facil- social infrastructure in order to accommodate
ities, including a 350,000 barrel per day (bpd) the influx.
oil refinery, a petrochemical plant and storage Members of Ghana’s Parliament approved
depots capable of holding 1mn barrels of crude plans for the establishment of the petroleum hub
oil and petroleum products, as well as marine in late October of last year.
jetties and berths that can handle very large Shortly thereafter, the Energy Ministry said
crude carriers (VLCCs and ultra-large crude it had shortlisted three bidders for the contract
carriers (ULCCs) travelling along the West to build the facility. It did not name any of the
African coast. bidders but said that one of the shortlisted firms
The government has estimated the total cost had pledged to spend up to $15bn on the con-
of the project, which falls within the framework struction of new storage depots. ™`
of a wider effort to improve and transform the
country’s economy, at around $60bn. It has also
said that the hub may generate $1.56bn per year
in export tax revenue and create as many as
780,000 jobs. Under Ghanaian law, though, the
government cannot launch work on the scheme
until it consults with shareholders in the region,
which includes the Western Nzema Traditional
Area.
Accordingly, Ghana’s Land Use and Spatial
Planning Authority (LUSPA) held a consultative
meeting in the district last week. The gathering
was led by LUSPA CEO Lawrence Dakurah,
who said that Accra was trying to ensure that all
parties benefited from the scheme.
At the meeting, a key tribal leader – Awulae
Annor Adjei III, the paramount chief of West-
ern Nzema Traditional Area – endorsed the
government’s plan. He also pledged to make
land available for the hub and urged Ghanaian
authorities to fast-track the processes of acquir-
ing real estate and compensating the parties that The petroleum hub will house multiple facilities (Image: Ghana Ministry of Energy)

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 06 10•February•2021