Tullow Ghana to Increase Oil Production - Kweku Awotwi

By Cliff Ekuful and Lucy And Abeduwaa Appiah

Ghana's leading oil producing company, Tullow Ghana, is set to increase its production from the current figure of 170,000 a day to 180,000 barrels by the close of year, says Mr Kweku Awotwi, Managing Director of Tullow Ghana.

This, according to him, would be in line with the company's target of hitting optimal production within years of operations.

"Today we are producing about 170,000 barrels and we are hoping that by the close of the year, we will reach 180,000 barrels," he emphasised.

Mr Awotwi disclosed this when his company took its turn at the "Facts behind the Figures" Programme at the Ghana Stock Exchange.

He said the company had spent a total of $16 billion with its partners since it started production in 2010, stressing that between Tullow and its partners we have spent $16 billion and we have produced about 250 millon barrels and we also produced close to 100 bcf gas."

Mr Awotwi noted that the coming onboard of the Tweneboa Entume Nyera (TEN) blocks had improved the operations of the company and this year had been a good year with the increase in crude oil prices on the world market.

"The company is in a position to guarantee very strong performance in the first half of the year and will continue to show strong performance in the second half of the year," he said.

He said TEN continue to produce beyond expectations and this was expected to continue for the coming years.

"For this year, we have drilled five new wells and by the end of next year we expect to drill eight additional new wells to enable us attain our target of hitting 180,000 barrels a day," he stated.

According him the TEN had a reserve of half a billion barrel equivalent and Jubilee also possessed over a billion barrels and these reserves would ensure that the company sustained a sturdy operation.

Touching on the company's contribution to the economy of Ghana, the Managing Director said between 2010 when it started commercial production to 2016, it contributed nearly six per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The six per cent according to him were in the areas of production entitlements, taxes and royalties, contract awards to indigenous Ghanaian companies, social interventions as well as training and employment of nationals.

"Over the years from 2011 to 2016 the contribution is about six per cent to Ghana's GDP and it is made up of a number of components, taxes and royalties and just a few words about that, we have paid about $4billion on taxes and royalties is about $2.5billion," he said.

On his part, the Chief Financial Officer for Tullow PLC, Mr Les Wood said the company had acquired extensive acreage of exploration fields in Africa and South America and this was going to play a significant role in their campaign plans over the next three years.

He said Jubilee and TEN remained their flagship low cost producing assets in West Africa and a lot of investment is focused on multi-year incremental drilling programme to maximise and extend their production profile.

Mr Wood said in spite of their operations in West Africa, significant discoveries had also been made in the South Lokichar Basin in Kenya and the phased development of that basin was expected to plateau at 100,000 barrels a day.

Similarly, he explained that estimated 1.7 billion barrels of crude had been discovered in Uganda and development of those fields was progressing smoothly.

He said the strategy of Tullow was to create a business where their low-cost, long-life asset based in Africa creates the high-margin cash flow to fund its growth while reducing it debts and delivering for its shareholders.

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