President Mills lauds Ghana's progress at UN

President John Atta Mills reiterated his commitment to credible and violence-free elections in 2012 when he addressed members of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“Ghana's democratic credentials stand tall and we intend to maintain the standards we have achieved,” he said, adding that the Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC) has the necessary resources to conduct the elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.

He invited the international community to monitor the 2012 poll, as it did in 2008.

Briefing the General Assembly on the government's development initiatives, he said that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration continued to invest heavily in young people by improving education and skills training, instituting anti-drug campaigns, and using the oil and gas industry to create new opportunities.

He said his government had also taken measures to strengthen the rule of law by implementing legislation to promote accountability and good governance, protect human rights, and ensure the independence and integrity of the judiciary and the freedom of the media.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Hess discovery offshore Ghana

Hess has found oil and gas at its Paradise-1 exploration well offshore Ghana. The well is located at the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DTCTP) license. Speaking about the new discovery, the company said it had “encountered an estimated 490 net feet of oil and gas condensate pay over three separate intervals.”

In April, when Hess disclosed interim results for the discovery, the company said it had found 370 net feet of hydrocarbon-laden sands. The well was drilled to a total depth of 16,436 feet in a water depth of 6,038 feet.

Hess is going to co-operate with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the government to plan future appraisal drilling. Hess owns 90 per cent of the Paradise prospect, the remaining 10 per cent belongs to GNPC.

Sources: Ghana Business News, Reuters, Market Watch

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

President Mills inaugurates Ghana's first oil

Ghana has finally joined a host of oil exporting African nations by pumping its first commercial oil after the discovery of the offshore Jubilee field in 2007. President John Atta Mills opened the valves, in a televised inauguration ceremony, at the 330 metre long platform off the country's Atlantic coast.

A consortium led by Tullow will aim to produce around 55,000 b/d increasing it to up to 120,000 b/d within the next six months. The initial production output is expected to double within three years. Ghana's is likely to earn in the region of $400 million in the first year.

Ghana's Energy Minister Joseph Oteng-Adjei said that the government has ensured that the country benefits from its oil wealth, adding “Ghana has taken various decisions, which proves that we are not going the path of other countries. We've also put down some basic rules to ensure transparency in the management of the revenue that will come out of this natural resource.”

The government has been deliberating legislation to safeguard the country's oil industry – and avoid the pitfalls faced by nearby Nigeria – but it is yet to put the laws in place.

Speaking before the inauguration ceremony, President Mills assured Ghanaians that oil wealth would be distributed fairly across the board. Reiterating his reassurance from earlier in the year Mills said, "I'd also wish to restate that revenue from the oil will be used for the benefit of all, and not the benefit of a few."

The government has estimated that the oil will boost Ghana's economic growth rate from 5 per cent this year up to 12 per cent by next year, with oil production bringing in around $1 billion in revenue. The Jubilee field, 60km of Ghana 's Atlantic coast, is estimated to hold up to 1.5 barrels of oil. A second offshore field, discovered in September, is also estimated to contain up to 1.4 billion barrels oil.

Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Voice of America

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

Tullow finds oil offshore Ghana

Tullow Oil has discovered a major new oil find in the Owo-1 exploration sidetrack in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana. Results of drilling, wireline logs and samples of reservoir fluids have confirmed that Owo is a major new oil field.

The sidetrack showed a "very substantial" 200 meter gross oil column in the heart of the Owo oil field, with new condensate and gas accumulations below, said exploration director for Tullow, Angus McCoss.

"The discovery of very material volumes of light oil in Owo and the fact that the oil is concentrated in high quality channel sands greatly enhances our outlook for the efficient future development of both the Owo and Tweneboa fields," he said.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates