Exploring Keta basin will be suicidal for GNPC - Benjamin Asante

Director of Petroleum at the Ministry of Energy, Benjamin Kwame Asante, has said it will be wrong for government to ask GNPC Explorco to bid for the keta basin.

He explained that the direct negotiations for the Eastern basin need people who have experience in deep water and are financially capable to embark on this project.

He noted that

Read full articlea whole lot of procedures are involved in the exploration of oil in deep water.

Mr Asante said it will be best if government [GNPC Explorco] partners with a private company to embark on this project.

In an interview with GhanaWeb business, the director of petroleum at the ministry of energy said, "The point is that, this is to help GNPC Explorco to acquire the operatorship capability and start operating but if you look at the Keta basin, the water depth there, I think it will be suicidal for government to say that GNPC should go into that exploration. Even to go and hire a seismic company to come and shoot seismic is more money and even if we shoot seismic and we have made a drillable prospect to drill, a drillable contractor will come in so why wouldn’t we get a private company to come in…we all share the risk through explorco or GNPC’S participation and when there’s a reward, we all share the reward."

"I don’t think it is good at this stage for government to say GNPC to go and spend money and do this but of course, we have started something on the Voltarian basin under onshore where GNPC has taken the lead to acquire data. All these data and what GNPC is doing is to establish a working petroleum system in there," he added.

Meanwhile, two companies have engaged government in direct negotiations over the Eastern and Western basis.

According to the director of petroleum at the ministry of energy, the Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has the legal backing to engage in direct negotiations.