Abstract
Wells drilled in 2007 in the Republic of Ghana’s West Cape Three Points Block offshore and the Deepwater Tano Contract area confirmed oil and gas reserves in commercial quantities straddling the two blocks, intersecting large continuous accumulations of sweet crude. Following a ministerial directive for the blocks to be unitized, the parties promptly complied and created the Jubilee Field because they were agreed that the necessary conditions for unitization to occur had crystallized. Years later, there was a stark contrast in respect of reaction when the Minister for Energy issued a directive that the Afina Field, held by Springfield Exploration and Production Ltd., be unitized with the Sankofa Field of Italian major, ENI, on the basis that the same Cenomanian channel straddled both the OCTP Block (ENI) and WCTP 2 Block (Springfield). ENI had opposed the unitization of the two fields on the basis that Springfield had not sufficiently tested its discovery to show that it was in dynamic communication with ENI’s Sankofa. The Jubilee Field unitization was pulled off relatively easily as opposed to the difficulties encountered with respect to the Afina-Sankofa precisely because that recognition as to unitization being triggered was absent in the latter case.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | National Approaches to Hydrocarbon Development |
Subtitle of host publication | Unitization and Unit Operating Agreements |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Pages | 75-101 |
Number of pages | 27 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781040272633 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781032753669 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2025 |