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In the meantime, he stated, EACOP’s share- which are home to the Kingfisher and Tilenga
holders are trying to fast-track land acquisition fields. These fields are due to begin production
along the 1,445-km route of the pipe. So far, he in 2025 and will eventually yield at least 260,000
added, this process has moved forward relatively bpd of crude.
quickly in Tanzania, where all land is state- The pipeline will be built by a consortium in
owned. In Uganda, by contrast, the campaign which TotalEnergies is serving as the operator
has proceeded more slowly, partly because of with a 37.5% stake. The remaining equity will
different ownership patterns and partly because be divided between China National Offshore Oil
of the lockdowns the government has imposed Corp. (CNOOC), with 37.5%; Uganda National
to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID- Oil Co. (UNOC), with 15%, and Tanzania Petro-
19) pandemic. leum Development Corp. (TPDC), with 5%.
According to previous reports, the EACOP Both Total and CNOOC are involved in devel-
link will run from Hoima, a town in western oping the oilfields that will provide throughput
Uganda, to Tanga, a port on Tanzania’s coast. It for the pipeline; the former company serves as
will handle 216,000 barrels per day of oil from operator of Tilenga, while the latter is leading
Blocks 1, 1A, 2 and 3A in western Uganda, work at Kingfisher. ™

INVESTMENT
Ghana hopes to borrow $1.65bn for

investment in offshore development

ANGOLA THE government of Ghana has asked Parlia- (DWT/CTP) block, where Norway’s Aker
ment for approval to borrow up to $1.65bn for Energy is serving as operator.
the purpose of investing in offshore oil and gas At the same time, Accra is hoping to borrow
projects. According to records of parliamentary another $350mn to cover its share of devel-
proceedings, Accra submitted a request to this opment costs at Pecan, an oilfield within the
effect earlier this week, explaining that it wanted DWT/CTP block. It has been in talks with Aker
to use the money to speed up exploration and for some time with the aim of bringing down
development work in the offshore zone. the cost of developing the site, which is believed
The government intends to make most of the to contain 450-550mn barrels of oil equivalent
funds available to EXPLORCO, a subsidiary of (boe) in recoverable reserves.
state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corp. As of press time, it was not known whether
(GNPC), for the purpose of acquiring stakes in Parliament had responded to the request for
two sites. It is reportedly ready to pay as much as funds. In the meantime, some officials in Accra
$1.3bn for 70% of the South Deep Water Tano have been talking up the government’s plans,
(SDWT) block, where the local company AGM describing them as a path toward giving GNPC
Petroleum Ghana is serving as operator, and the capability of operating upstream assets
37% of the Deep Water Tano/Cape Three Points independently.

Ghana aims to borrow $350mn to cover its share of costs at Pecan (Image: Aker Energy)

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 31 04•August•2021