President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali recently held talks via telephone with the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo which saw both committing to advancing and deepening the agenda for cooperation between the two countries, including in the areas of oil and gas and on environmental issues.
Both presidents also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the longstanding friendly relations between their two countries and recalled the discussions held during the Ghanaian President’s two-day state visit to Guyana in 2019. During that visit, the Ghanaian President had met with a delegation led by then Opposition Leader and now Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
In July 2007, Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy discovered oil in commercial quantities in the western region of Ghana. They named the area “Jubilee Field”. Development of the production site started right away and in December 2010, oil production was officially launched. Since 2007, further discoveries have been made, including the Tweneboa, another major discovery.
The Jubilee field is located in the Gulf of Guinea, 60 kilometers off the Ghanaian coast, near the Côte d’Ivoire border. It is spread out in the Deepwater Tano and West Cape Three Points blocks. The wells are at a water depth between 1,100 and 1,300 meters and at a total depth between 3,400 and 4,200 meters. The field covers 110 km2, which is about the size of 155 football pitches.
As of 2016, Ghana held 660 million barrels of proven oil reserves. Oil production stood at 189,000 per day as of January 2021.
Guyana, on the other hand, holds over nine billion barrels of oil equivalent resources from 20 commercial discoveries in its Stabroek Block. This block is operated by a consortium of oil companies including ExxonMobil, Hess Corporation, and CNOOC Petroleum.
Exxon first struck black gold at the Liza discovery, which was announced in May of 2015. The oil company encountered more than 295 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs. It was safely drilled to 17,825 feet in 5,719 feet of water.
Liza Phase 1 is Exxon’s first development offshore Guyana. The project includes a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, designed to produce 120,000 barrels of oil per day, and a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels.
Exxon has been lauded by the Guyana Government for its aggressive campaign to develop other deepwater projects like Liza Phase 2, Payara, and the Yellowtail fields.
