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Ghana Petroleum Exploration
Although commercial quantities of offshore oil reserves were
discovered in the 1970s, by 1990 production was still negligible.
In 1983 the government established the Ghana National Petroleum
Corporation (GNPC) to promote exploration and production, and the
company reached agreements with a number of foreign firms. The most
important of these permitted US-based Amoco to prospect in ten
offshore blocks between Ada and the western border with Togo. Petro
Canada International has prospected in the Tano River Basin, and
Diamond Shamrock in the Keta Basin. In 1989 three companies, two
American and one Dutch, spent US$30 million drilling wells in the
Tano basin. On June 21, 1992, an offshore Tano basin well produced
about 6,900 barrels of oil daily.
In the early 1990s, GNPC reviewed all earlier oil and gas
discoveries to determine whether a predominantly local operation
might make exploitation more commercially viable. GNPC wanted to
set up a floating system for production, storage, off-loading,
processing, and gas-turbine electricity generation, hoping to
produce 22 billion cubic feet per day, from which 135 megawatts of
power could be generated and fed into the national and regional
grid. GNPC also won a contract in 1992 with Angola's state oil
company, Sonangol, that provides for drilling and, ultimately,
production at two of Sonangol's offshore oilfields. GNPC will be
paid with a share of the oil.
The country's refinery at Tema underwent the first phase of a
major rehabilitation in 1989. The second phase began in April 1990
at an estimated cost of US$36 million. Once rehabilitation is
completed, distribution of liquified petroleum gas will be
improved, and the quantity supplied will rise from 28,000 to 34,000
barrels a day. Construction on the new Tema/Akosombo oil products
pipeline, designed to improve the distribution system further,
began in January 1992. The pipeline will carry refined products
from Tema to Akosombo Port, where they will be transported across
Lake Volta to northern regions. Distribution continues to be
uneven, however. Other measures to improve the situation include a
US$28 million project to set up a national network of storage
depots in all regions.
The Tema Lube Oil Company commissioned its new oil blending
plant, designed to produce 25,000 tons of oil per year, in 1992.
The plant will satisfy all of Ghana's requirements for motor and
gear lubricants and 60 percent of the country's need for industrial
lubricants, or, in all, 90 percent of Ghana's demand for lubricant
products. Shareholders include Mobil, Shell, and British Petroleum
(together accounting for 48 percent of equity), Ghana National
Petroleum Corporation, and the Social Security and National
Insurance Trust.
Data as of November 1994
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