The Vitol Group (Vitol) is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Ghana, GNPC and Eni concerning development of the significant non-associated gas discoveries made in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) Block located offshore in the Tano Basin. The project, which will involve the gathering, processing and redelivery of gas produced from the OCTP Block fields, will be a key step in the development of Ghana’s gas industry. The MoU will establish the commercial and technical framework for a combined development of the Sankofa and Gye Nyame gas discoveries. An appraisal drilling program is ongoing and being completed in parallel with the commencement of the commercialisation and development planning for these fields. The production profiles and the capacity of the infrastructure will be determined as part of the programme of work covered in the MoU.
Both Vitol and Eni are committed to take the next steps towards developing these gas discoveries, and the MoU with the Government is a crucial milestone in bringing this gas to market.
Ian Taylor, President and CEO of Vitol said: “Vitol is delighted to have signed this important MoU with Eni, GNPC and the Government of Ghana. This gas project is an exciting next step in the fast growing energy sector in Ghana. It represents a foundation for production of Ghanaian non-associated gas, bringing new sources to market for the benefit of industries and the people of Ghana.”
About Sankofa and Gye Nyame:
Sankofa and Gye Nyame are located in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) Block in the Tano Basin, offshore Ghana.
Eni, through it’s subsidiary company Eni Ghana exploration and production limited, is the operator of the license with a 47.22% interest, Vitol Upstream Ghana Limited holds a 37.78% interest and state company, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, has a 15.00% interest.
The stakeholders announced the successful appraisal and testing of the Sankofa discovery in April 2011 and the discovery of Gye Nyame later in 2011. The subsequent work has confirmed the significant scale of these resources and the potential for these fields to be the first non-associated gas fields developed offshore Ghana.
About the Vitol Group:
The Vitol Group was founded in 1966 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since then the company has grown significantly to become a major participant in world energy markets and is now the world’s largest independent energy trader. Its trading portfolio includes crude oil, oil products, LPG, LNG, natural gas, coal, power, metals and carbon emissions. Vitol trades with all the major national oil companies, the integrated oil majors and independent refiners and traders. Globally Vitol trades over 6 million barrels of crude oil and products per day and revenues in 2011 were $297 billion.
In addition to its trading business and its 50% share in the storage and terminals business, VTTI, comprising 13 terminals on five continents with around 8 million cubic metres of storage, Vitol has an exploration and production business with interests in Ghana, Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan. It also currently owns and operates around 150kbd of refining assets and a thermal coal mine in British Columbia, Canada.
Additional information can be found at https://www.vitol.com/ and https://www.vtti.com/ or please contact:
Brunswick Group LLP
Patrick Handley/Elizabeth Adams: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Don Goldberg at Bluetext, Washington DC: +1 202 365 5224