Fifty eight firms have successfully qualified for the next round of the government of Ghana maiden bidding round for oil blocs.
The bidding round committee has now opened applications for pre-qualification from interested companies who submitted interest for the three oil blocs.
A statement from the government in the capital Accra said “overall, sixteen (16) high caliber companies with proven track records submitted a total of sixty applications”.
It added that “Two of the applications were invalidated as they, were for blocs reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).”
“In line with this, fifty eight (58) valid applications will be considered for the next stage of the process. The number of applications received shows a high level of interest by international companies in our Basins”, the statement further said.
According to the government “the high level of interest shown by major international oil firms in the process is a vote of confidence in the Ghanaian economy.”
“We will collaborate and partner with selected firms to explore and exploit the resources for our mutual benefit”, he said.
Companies that expressed interest are Tullow Oil, ENI, CAIRN, Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation, Exxon Mobil, CNOOC, Qatar Petroleum, BP, Vitol , Global Petroleum Group, Aker Energy, First E&P , Kosmos , SASOL and Equinox.
Ghana in December 2010 began production of oil in commercial quantities following years of oil discovery.
Source: Africafeeds.com
