Eni makes first big oil discovery in Ghana

MILAN: Italian energy group Eni, Africa’s biggest foreign oil and gas producer, and partner oil trader Vitol said they had made their first important oil discovery offshore Ghana where they operate two blocks.
During production tests, the well produced about 5,000 high quality barrels of oil per day although the flow rate was constrained by inadequate surface infrastructure, Eni said in a statement.
Eni said the discovery had commercial potential and confirmed the importance of the block in terms of oil present, as well as natural gas and condensates.
Swiss-based Vitol, known for its role as a middle man, buying and selling cargoes on the global market, has taken steps in recent years to acquire upstream and downstream assets.
As Africa’s newest oil exporter, Ghana has attracted strong interest from exploration companies despite missing output targets last year after Tullow Oil postponed production from its lucrative Jubilee field.
Eni, which is sitting on massive gas reserves in Mozambique that have drawn a lot of interest from other majors, is keen to expand its footprint in Africa.
The planned sale of its controlling stake in Italian gas transport group Snam will raise about 6 billion euros ($ 7.83 billion) in cash and remove 11 billion euros of debt from the Eni balance sheet, resources that could be used to fund upstream business.
The Ghana discovery was made in the country’s Offshore Cape Three Points block in which Eni owns a controlling 47.2 percent stake, Vitol’s Ghana branch has a 37.8 percent stake and Ghana’s state oil firm GNPC has 15 percent.