• Tullow offshore facility
Tullow Oil has signed a production sharing contract for an offshore exploration licence in Côte d’Ivoire.
UK-listed Tullow will operate the licence with 90 per cent equity and the remaining 10 per cent is held by PetroCi.
The licence covers an area of 1,345 square kilometres and is adjacent to licence CI-524 which is also held by Tullow and PetroCi.
The oil company said in a statement on Wednesday that, “with this new exploration licence, Tullow strengthens its position in the Tano Basin where significant prospectivity has been identified within the proven Cretaceous turbidite plays, similar to the plays which are producing in the adjacent TEN and Jubilee Fields.”
Tullow said “the work programme for the initial two and a half years includes reprocessing of existing 3D seismic data, along with prospect evaluation. In CI-524, a number of drill candidates are being matured while preparations continue for an exploration well to be drilled during 2024.”
Rahul Dhir, Chief Executive Officer, Tullow Oil plc, commented: “This new licence underscores our strong commitment to investing in and unlocking the resource potential in Côte d’Ivoire.
“Our exploration strategy is focussed around existing producing fields in basins where we have a differentiated understanding, in this case through our deep understanding of the Tano Basin.”
Since 2006, Tullow has had interests in two exploration licences offshore Ghana.
Following seismic acquisition and interpretation, Tullow and its partners drilled two successful exploration wells in 2007. The wells discovered the major Jubilee oil field in the Gulf of Guinea’s Tano Basin. The Jubilee Cretaceous turbidite reservoir straddled both licences; Deepwater Tano and West Cape Three Points.
In October 2008, Tullow was appointed as the Jubilee field operator and set about working with the partners and Government of Ghana on developing the field to bring Ghana its first major oil production.
The Ministy of Energy in Ghana formally approved the Jubilee field Phase 1 Development Plan and Unitisation Agreement on behalf of the Government of Ghana in July 2009.
In November 2010, following a successful development programme, which included the building of a Floating Production Offtake Vessel (FPSO), first oil was achieved from the Jubilee field.
This was some 40 months post the initial discovery well which represents the fastest ever comprehensive full scale deepwater development. The field is Tullow’s key asset and generates significant high-margin oil production for the Group.
Tullow’s second major discovery and subsequent development in Ghana is the TEN field. In May 2013, the Plan of Development for TEN was approved by the Government of Ghana and Tullow commenced its second major operated deepwater development.
First oil was achieved on time and on budget in August 2016, three years after the Plan of Development was approved by the Government of Ghana.
In March 2022, Tullow completed the pre-emption related to the sale of Occidental Petroleum’s interests in the Jubilee and TEN fields in Ghana to Kosmos Energy for a total consideration of $126 million.
The transaction took Tullow’s equity interests to 39.0 per cent in the Jubilee field and to 54.8 per cent in the TEN fields and added c.4 kbopd of annualised unhedged production to Tullow’s portfolio for 2022.
Tullow and its partners will invest over $4 billion over this decade through an ambitious ‘Value Maximization Plan’ that will deliver over 50 wells and consistent revenue to Tullow and the Government of Ghana.
In April 2021, Tullow began a multi-year, multi-well drilling campaign. In 2021 two producers, one water injector and a work over were delivered on Jubilee. On TEN, a gas injector at the Ntomme Field was brought onstream.
The Ghana Value Maximisation Plan is also focusing on a programme of operational turnaround which is targeting in excess of 95 per cent uptime at both FPSOs.
Tullow is also making sure that both fields continue to be consistent and reliable suppliers of natural gas. Gas from the Jubilee and TEN fields contributes significantly towards Ghana’s domestic energy supply.
Tullow is a recognised independent oil and gas, exploration and production group. The Group has interests in over 30 exploration and production licences across eight countries.