3. Deepwater Tano-CTP Block (3000sqkm)
Contract Parties
Aker Energy (Operator), LukOil, Fuel Trade, GNPC EXPLORCO, GNPC.
Effective Date/Initial Exploration Period
Effective Date: July 19, 2006
Appraisal/Pre-development Period (3 years from Notice of Discovery).
Has 6 months after ITLOS ruling to submit POD.
Minimum Exploration Program (Initial Phase)
-
3D ‘Broadband’ seismic acquisition
- Drilling of 3 appraisal wells (2 in the Pecan area and 1 at Almond)
- Reprocessing of legacy 3D seismic
- Well data integration of all data
- Reservoir simulation studies
-
Geochemistry study
Minimum Expenditure
$32,000,000
Observations as of 2022
Aker Energy has faced repeated delays in submitting the revised POD for the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Point block, with extensions granted due to challenges with meeting deadlines.
Aker acquired the interest of Hess in the block and proceeded to complete appraisals studies. Programme of Development (PoD) was submitted to government. The PoD was not approved. Aker has to revise and resubmit the PoD.
Aker awaited some amendments to its PA to finalize the Pecan PoD and resubmit. Parliament amended the DWTCTP PA in December 2020. However, Aker suspended the development of the field in April 2020 due to low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, Aker Energy suspended and postponed all Pecan Field development activities on account of the impact of Covid-19. As of the time of this report, the contractors have not submitted a revised PoD for the Pecan Field as expected.
In 2021, GNPC proposed and submitted a memo approved by Cabinet to Parliament to acquire additional 37 percent share in this block. This proposal raised significant opposition on the propriety and fiscal implications from CSOs in the sector and other stakeholders in the sector. The advocacy from these actors raised important threats of the proposal to the country’s fiscal situation including issues with the valuations and value-for-money concerns resulting in a suspension of the plans.
Aker has enjoyed consistent extensions to submit a revised POD after failing to deliver on several deadlines. In 2022, the company was unable to meet the June 30, 2022, deadline and sought an extension of the deadline on account of potential sanctions on Russian oil firm Lukoil (a partner on the block) due to the Russian-Ukraine War. Lukoil maintains that the decision to postpone the submission of the revised POD has no lawful grounds.
The Ministry of Energy granted a three-month extension from June 30, 2022. ACEP’s industry intelligence indicates that Aker failed to meet this deadline, with another extension granted to December 2022.