• GNPC has acquired a 7% interest from Occidental Petroleum
• The interest involves the Jubilee and TEN oil fields
• The purchasing price of the move is US$199 million
Government through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has revealed it has acquired a 7 percent Commercial Interest (CI) on two of the country’s offshore oil blocks from Occidental Petroleum.
The interest acquired will be transferred to GNPC’s subsidiary, the GNPC Exploration and Production Company. It will then become part of the contractor group for the two oil blocks, along with Tullow, Petro SA and Kosmos.
A statement issued by the Corporation explained the CI acquired will both come from the Jubilee and TEN fields with the purchasing price of US$199 million.
It added the acquisition took effect from April 1, 2021 and falls in line with the GNPC and government’s resolve of increasing the country’s participating stake in oil blocks.
Chief of Executive of the GNPC, Dr. Kofi Duah,“this acquisition is of immense benefit to GNPC as it allows GNPC Explorco to start generating cash flow for its activities. There is also a debt write-off in excess of US$30 million from KOSMOS Energy. Kosmos Energy has also agreed to train GNPC technical staff in support of GNPC’s quest to build operator capacity”.
Meanwhile, the 7 percent Commercial Interest acquisition is expected to complement the GNPC’s existing Carried and Participating Interest of 13.64% in the Jubilee Field, and the 15% in the TEN Field.