Lagos, Nigeria | – Italian multinational oil giant, Eni, has made a significant gas and condensate discovery in the Cape Three Points Block Four (CTP-Block 4) offshore Ghana in the Western Region.
The well, drilled on the Akoma exploration prospect, proved an estimated volume of between 550 and 650 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas and 18 to 20 million barrels (mmbbl) of condensate.
The discovery has further additional upside for gas and oil that require further drilling to be confirmed.
Eni said the Akoma-1X was the first well drilled in CTP-Block 4 and represented a discovery of potentially commercial nature due to its proximity to the existing infrastructure.
The discovery could be put in production with a subsea tie to the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel with the aim to extend its production plateau.
In a statement, Eni said the exploration well Akoma-1X
was located approximately 50 kilometres off the coast and about 12 kilometres
north-west of the Sankofa hub, where current production on the FPSO John
Agyekum Kufuor is currently ongoing.
Benefits
With the discovery, the country stands the chance of realising its dream of hitting half a million barrels of oil within the shortest possible time and also becoming a nation that can produce enough gas for sustainable power generation in the country for development and industrialisation.
The discovery was a historic moment for some Ghanaian crew on board, who worked hand in hand with the team, leading to the discovery for the country.
It is expected that by 2023, Ghana’s daily oil production
should go beyond 500,000 barrels of oil, which is good news for the country and
its claim to remain dominant within the West African sub-region.
The drill ship
The well was drilled by the Maersk Voyager drilling ship in a water depth of 350 metres and reached a total depth of 3,790 metres.
The Akoma-1X well also proved a single gas and condensate column in a 20m thick sandstone reservoir interval, which contains the oil in the earth’s bowel with good petro-physical properties or porosity of the reservoir and with hydrocarbon.
The campaign was carried out by the joint venture of CTP-Block 4, formed by Eni Ghana with 42.469 per cent as the lead operator.
Vitol Upstream Tano holds 33.975 per cent, while the
national oil company, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has 10
per cent interest for the country.
Other members of the partnership are Woodfields
Upstream, with 9.556 per cent, and GNPC’s subsidiary, Explorco, four per cent.
