Vitol requests IFC financing for Ghana oil offshore project

Vitol Ghana, a subsidiary of Vitol Group, has requested financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project in the Western Region of Ghana.

The OCTP block is a large deepwater block located 55 to 60 km offshore in the Western Region of Ghana, with estimated discovered reserves of 132 million barrels of oil and 1,079 billion cubic feet of gas. The block contains the Sankofa and Gye Nyame gas fields and the Sankofa East oil field.

The OCTP project will be developed by a joint venture (JV), composed of Eni Ghana Exploration and Production Limited, the operator of the block holding 44.4% participating interest, Vitol Upstream Ghana Limited holding 35.6% participating interest, and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) holding 20% participating carried interest.The project encompasses the development of the Sankofa East oil field, with first oil production planned for 2017; and the development of non-associated gas in the Sankofa and Gye Nyame fields, with first gas production planned for 2018.

The total estimated project cost is US$7.3 billion. The aggregate debt financing package for Vitol Ghana’s share of the total project cost will be up to US$1.2 billion. IFC’s proposed investment consists of up to US$300 million in debt financing.

The project will provide enough gas to fire up to 1,000 MW, representing about 25% of Ghana's total estimated power generation capacity in 2020. The OCTP project will therefore substitute expensive, higher emission liquid fuels currently used by the power sector of Ghana by cleaner and cheaper gas resources.