In Show of Resilience, Ghana’s Springfield E&P Fulfils Pledge to Begin Oil Well Appraisal Within 3 Months

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja 

Springfield Exploration and Production Limited has begun well appraisal activities barely three months after an international tribunal directed the government to let the Ghanian firm do further work to complete the Afina-Sankofa unitisation.

The first Ghanaian deep water firm had promised to appraise the Afina-1x well within three months of the ruling, a statement from the firm said.

On Thursday, October 17, 2024, the Deepsea Bollsta deep offshore Rig contracted by Springfield from Northern Ocean, a Norway company, arrived at Afina-1x Well at the West Cape Three Points (WCTP) Block 2 offshore and commenced operations to execute its mandate.

The tribunal, on July 8 this year, adjudicating between the government of Ghana and Eni Ghana Exploration and Production and Vitol Energy, declared that the government were well within their rights under the Laws of Ghana to issue a unitisation directive.

 The tribunal specified a timeline of six months maximum for the unitisation to be completed, once the work is completed.

Springfield subsequently issued a statement indicating its acceptance of all judicial directives, local and international, and pledged to do exactly as had been directed. 

The indigenous energy company’s Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Okyere, who shared his thoughts on the milestone, stated that the company’s tenacity and resilience was a testament to its commitment to succeed and to motivate the average African that ‘nothing is impossible if they set their minds to it’.

He said: ‘‘We have a clear understanding of what being an upstream operator entails and so we have hired the best possible team with over 60 years of collective experience working for all the super-majors and majors of the world.

“We work with all the best blue-chip companies to execute all technical works, studies and drilling programmes. Being a smaller operator, but working with the same expertise and diligence as the big operators, we can make decisions swiftly to benefit all our stakeholders including the government and people of Ghana”. 

The CEO stated that one of the most critical challenges in the industry at this time is how to secure the services of an efficient rig, expressing delight that Deepsea Bollsta was already at work.

“Our research has shown that during this busy time in the drilling industry, rigs would not be available for another year and yet Springfield managed to find one and drilling commenced.

“This has all happened within a space of three months. It is worthy of note that consistent with its track record and show of resilience, despite what challenges Springfield has faced, it always bounces back stronger and find solutions for every situation it finds itself in,” the company stated.

The company, it said, had invested a lot of resources to get the job done and invested over $60 million for the ongoing well-test and appraisal, an incredible feat for an indigenous company.

Okyere was upbeat about the outcome of the appraisal, saying the data before them is very positive and that the team was out to confirm it.

Also at the stakeholders’ engagement, Okyere, recalling how far the company had come, explained that the latest move will help stop the decline in Ghana’s oil production.

“I would like to basically announce to everyone here that the rig is finally in the country and we have commenced the appraisal programme. We are going ahead to build this appraisal well so that we can finally finish and stop the decline of Ghana’s production and hopefully help add more production to the oil and gas industry in Ghana. 

“As the first Ghanaian company and the first African company to own and operate a deep offshore oil block, drill and find hydrocarbons, I think we need to give all ourselves an applause that we’ve really done very well.

“All I would like to say today is that if people can go deep in the ocean and find oil, it means that there’s nothing that a Ghanaian or the African can put their mind to that they cannot achieve,” he noted.

Earlier, community stakeholders, including hundreds of fishermen had lauded the company when it met with them to share vital information on the well-test and appraisal.

Speaking at the engagement forum, Nana Kweku Amosa, a fisherman from the Jomoro District, praised Okyere for his visionary leadership and courage in venturing into an area considered to be the preserve of foreigners.

Amosa said that the company, a wholly Ghanaian-owned firm, must be supported to succeed just like Aliko Dangote was assisted by the state and its institutions to succeed in Nigeria.

Springfield and its partners engaged with the stakeholders to inform them about the arrival of the Deepsea Bollsta Rig, a semi-submersible rig to be utilised to appraise the Afina-1x well which made a significant discovery in 2019.  

They advised the fishermen against fishing close to the rig to avoid accidents that could cost the companies and the state millions of dollars and human lives.

Springfield’s previous success in drilling the Afina Well, it said, is the basis for a positive campaign outcome projected to last six weeks. 

Local and international blue chip operators in the supply chain of the energy sub-sector are also part of the latest campaign.

Presenting the work programme of the rig to the participants, Corporate Affairs Manager of the company, Mr Kennedy Nunoo, said the rig would not stay beyond the stipulated time and appealed to the chief fishermen and fish mongers to share the information with their friends and relations when they return to their landing beaches.

Officials from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the Petroleum Commission, the Fisheries Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Marine Police Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Navy attended the event.