A senior Oil Production Specialist, Dr. Yussif Sulemana, has asked government to act as a referee in the ongoing tussle between ENI Ghana and Springfield on the unitisation of its oil field.
In an interaction with The Vaultz News, he called on government to be a referee in the situation since the international community is monitoring the ongoing situation. He further cautioned government to approach the issue well and not interfere.
“Bear in mind that we have other players who are closely monitoring and government should try and be a referee in this case. The stakes are high in this situation. And so, once the stakes are high everybody will be looking into this situation to see how it’s going to be resolved.”
Dr. Sulemana
This current impasse comes on the back of the failure of ENI Ghana and Springfield Exploration and Production;to unitise the Sankofa Gye Nyame field belonging to both companies. According to ENI Ghana, it has more stake in the exploration field than Springfield and as a result have refused to unitise the field.
The directive for unitization which was given by the former Energy Minister, Peter Amewu is yet to see the light of day as there has been a bit of a tussle between both companies to unitise for advanced exploration.
Impasse can potentially dampen investor confidence
Dr. Sulemana averred that the ongoing impasse truly has the potential to dampen investor confidence in the exploration sector of the country as being purported if it is not well handled. He further asked for the situation to be handled with caution since the sector has been affected by the premature exit of Exxon Mobil.
“There is a greater potential that it could repel investors actually. But it all depends on how we as a nation handle the situation because it is a delicate situation.”
Dr. Sulemana
He therefore called for both parties to share data on their upstream exploration production;to ease the unification process in order to help the nation optimize its exploration.
“When you unitise, you stand the chance of optimizing your exploration because instead of different production,;you unitize the field and the strong operator which is ENI will support to develop the field further.”
Dr. Sulemana
However, he was of the view that the government is not completely silent. He explained that because situations like this need critical and proper preparation before a solution can be reached, government is taking its time to do so .
“If the government takes time to come out with a cogent statement,;it will be better than they rushing to say something.
“I believe also that something is being done because my understanding is that, this started with the previous energy minister. I just wish this didn’t come to the media front because issues like this have to be handled surgically. If they were able to handle it behind the scenes it would have been far better.”
Dr. Sulemana
