Ghana Invites Direct Talks for Two Blocks

Ghana's energy ministry issued a call for tenders on 29 October to oil and gas companies for direct negotiations without a public tender for the ultra-deep water blocks GH-WB-05 and GH-WB-06, in the eastern part of the Tano basin.

The blocks are expected to be of great interest as they are close to the Jubilee, TEN  and OCTP oil and gas producing fields.

The government, which decided to introduce more transparency in the allocation of perimeter blocks with the recent launch of its first call for tenders, decided to opt for direct negotiations because of the special nature of these two.

GH-WB-05 block is at a water depth ranging from 1,800 to 4,500 metres. GH-WB-06 is at a water depth of 3,500 to 4,500 metres. The government will only accept offers from companies with "relevant experience in exploration and production in ultra-deep waters, with emerging underwater technology, in accordance with the requirements of the field."

Accra also requires interested companies to have strong financial capacity and a proven track record of delivering projects on time and on budget.

Vanco Ghana and Lukoil were the previous owners and in February 2010 they announced an oil and gas-condensate discovery at the Dzata-1 exploratory well, including on GH-WB-05. It is believed that it is likely that another oil system can be established in deeper horizons.

According to the local news site My Joy Online, this block is covered by limited 2D and 3D seismic data. For GH-WB-06, on-site 2D seismic data are limited and no wells have yet been drilled.