And the best is yet to come ,,,

The risk factor associated with oil exploration in Ghana is getting lesser by the day, thanks to the announcement of more oil discoveries in the country in recent times. A total of 19 oil discoveries have been made since 2007 with the latest successful appraisal announcement by the Italian oil firm Eni being a booster. The Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Energy, Edward Bawa, told The Business Analyst in an interview on Monday that the increasing number of oil discoveries in the country means that the risk factors in exploring oil in the country is getting lower and the advantage being that “We can now strengthen our negotiation value as a nation. It affords us the opportunity to negotiate better terms,” he stated. The country’s stake-holding in blocks currently hovers around 10% to 15% but Mr. Bawa said now the country can increase that to 20% when negotiating new terms. He said the new discoveries also means government’s assets as well as its revenue sources are increasing. “Anytime a new discovery is announced, government’s potential source of revenue increases. This obviously will catapult our move from lower middle income to upper middle income,” Bawa emphasized. Last weekend, Eni, announced its successfully appraisal of the Sankofa East discovery offshore Ghana. The company estimates the overall potential of the discovery to be around 450 million barrels of oil in place with recoverable resources of up to 150 million barrels. Eni successfully drilled Sankofa East 2A, the first appraisal well of the Sankofa East supervises the bringing on-stream oil discovery in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) block, located in the Tano Basin offshore Ghana, around 50 kilometers off the coast. “The result is important because it confirms the commercial standing of the oil discovery in the OTCP block and the strategic importance of the block for further industrial and economic development in the country,” a release from the company stated. It said Sankofa East 2A has been drilled 8 kilometers south west of the discovery well Sankofa East X1 and confirmed the extension of the oil accumulation in the Cenomanian sequence. The data acquisition confirmed the hydraulic communication in the oil prone reservoir between the discovery and the appraisal well. Sankofa East 2A well, which reached a total depth of 4,050 meters, was drilled in 990 meters of water. The well encountered 23 meters of gas and condensate gross pay (17 meters net), and 76 meters of gross oil pay (30° API, 32 meters net) in good sands of cretaceous age. Eni has immediately commenced plans for the commercial exploitation of the oil reserves. There are also ongoing engineering studies for the development and commercialization of the gas reserves of the block in accordance with the principles sanctioned in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed by Eni, Vitol and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) with the Ministry of Energy of Ghana. The MoU focuses particularly on the domestic gas market, in which Eni and its joint venture partners aim to play a prominent role. Eni estimates overall recoverable resources in the OCTP block of approximately 450 million barrels of oil equivalent including gas, associated liquids and oil. Eni, through its subsidiary Eni Ghana Exploration and Production Limited, is the operator of the OCTP block with a 47.222% share. Other partners are Vitol Upstream Ghana Limited, with a 37.778% share, and state company GNPC with a 15% share. GNPC has an option for an additional 5% share. Eni has been operating in Ghana since 2009 and currently operates two exploration offshore blocks OCTP and Keta. Eni has been present in Sub Saharan Africa since the 1960s and currently participates in exploration and production projects in Angola, Congo, Ghana, Gabon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Kenya and Liberia. With rapid successful growth in exploration activity, Eni’s current operated production in the region is approximately 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Source:  energymin.gov.gh citing The Business Analyst, Wednesday 23rd January, 2013.

Own Great minds ,,,,,

Britain Prepared To Promote British Investments In Ghana By Edmund MingleMark Simmonds, British Minister for AfricaMark Simmonds, British Minister for AfricaRelated Stories The British government has expressed its preparedness to promote Private British investments in Ghana, saying it finds the Ghanaian investment atmosphere very conducive.  Mark Simmonds, British Minister for Africa, who conveyed the commitment of the British government during a meeting with Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at the Flag Staff House in Accra yesterday, said “Britain continues to admire Ghana’s rapid economic and democratic progress”.&nbs; Britain, he said, was happy to be associated with Ghana, and gave the assurance that the British government was committed to in facilitating more of British private sector investments into Ghana.  Mr. Simmonds, who led the British government’s delegation for President Mahama’s inauguration on Monday, praised Ghana for the peaceful elections, and commended the country for the efforts in enhancing the welfare of the citizenry.  He promised Britain’s help in building on the socio-economic gains made in the country, and expressed optimism that increase in investments from the UK would support in job creation efforts.  Among other things, the British Minister who was in Ghana a couple of months ago during his tour of West Africa, was happy about the strong ties between the two nations, and prayed for more dividends from the bilateral relations.  Vice President Amissah-Arthur, responding, also lauded the excellent relations between the two countries, and noted that Ghana remains committed in collaborating with the UK and other nations in addressing common development challenges.&nbsp He expressed appreciation o Britain for the continuous assistance towards the development of the various sectors of the economy, saying “we remain appreciative.” 

Keta :-100 million barrels of oil to be genersted from the harvest block

KETA : 100 Million barrels of oil to be drilled in Keta  Oil rig   Hundred million barrels of oil are expected to be generated from the harvest blocks in the offshore Accra-Keta basin area. This is expected to be drilled in two years time by Tap-Oil Limited, Afex International and Challenger Minerals Incorporated, which signed an agreement with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on Tuesday, June 15. As per the agreement, Tap oil Ghana limited will have a 36% stake, Ghana’s GNPC 10% whilst Challenger Mineral and Afex oil will each have 27%. Hitherto, most explorations bids had been concentrated in the western part of the country. However, the Managing Director of the GNPC, Nana Boakye Asafu Adjaye told CITI BUSINESS, the new agreement has relatively better prospects.  “In terms of difference, the physical regime for this particular agreement is much better than the Kosmos and West Cape three points deep water tunnel agreements. This is an exploration and production agreement just like the jubilee one. However, they are now going to start exploration. In the case of jubilee, West Cape three points and deep water Tano blocks, they have done a lot of exploration work and discoveries have been made, they developed the discoveries and they are about to start producing” he said. Europe -Africa Manager of Challenger Minerals Incorporated, Kevin Wallace also told Citi business the expectations of his company. “We will love to think that there might be a jubilee but we don’t have any indication that there is a jubilee there, finding a couple of hundred million barrels is very significant and those are the expectations going into the project.” He noted. “After we shoot our seismic and reprocess it, if those areas still look good we could be looking at a couple of hundred million barrels adding that drilling is likely to begin in 2012 or even earlier.” He added.   Citifmonline.com/DS

coronation of president of the republic of Ghana

Profile of Ghana’s fourth President under the Fourth Pepublic, John Dramani Mahama who, incidentally, is also the fourth “John,” to ascend the high office of the President of Ghana. Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings described as the first “John,” ruled as a democratically-elected President from January 7, 1993 to January 6, 2001; Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor endorsed as the second “John,” from January 7, 2001 to January 6, 2009; and the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills, the third “John,” from January 7, 2009 to July 24, 2012. President John Mahama was born on November 29, 1958 at Damongo, in the Northern Region of Ghana. He is a communications expert, historian, writer, former Member of Parliament and Minister of State, and immediate former Vice-President of Ghana. He ascended to the high office of President following the death of the incumbent President John Evans Atta Mills on Tuesday, July 24 in Accra. President Mahama’s father, Emmanuel Adama Mahama was the first Member of Parliament for the West Gonja Constituency and the first Regional Commissioner of the Northern Region during Ghana’s First Republic. After completing his education, President Mahama went on to pursue an additional postgraduate diploma in social psychology at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow, and returned to Ghana in 1991. He worked as Information, Culture and Research Officer at the Embassy of Japan in Accra. He moved on to work with PLAN International, Ghana, as International Relations, Sponsorship Communications and Grants Manager. An eloquent champion of the underprivileged, President Mahama was first elected to the Parliament of Ghana in 1996 to represent the Bole/Bamboi Constituency for a four-year term. In April 1997, President Mahama was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications. He rose to become the substantive Minister of Communications by November 1998. It was a position he held until January 2001 when the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was then the ruling party, handed over power to the newly elected New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration when the NDC lost the December 2000 elections. In 2000, President Mahama was re-elected for another four-year term as the MP for the Bole/Bamboi Constituency. He was again re-elected in 2004 for a third term. From 2001 to 2004, President Mahama served as the Minority Parliamentary Spokesman for Communications and in 2002 he was appointed the Director of Communications for the NDC. That same year, he served as a member of the team of international observers selected to monitor Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections. During his tenure as Minister of Communications, President Mahama also served as the Chairman of the National Communications Authority, in which capacity he played a key role in stabilizing Ghana’s telecommunications sector after it was deregulated in 1997. President Mahama also served as a member of the National Economic Management Team, a founding member of the Ghana AIDS Commission, a member of the implementation committee of the 2000 National Population Census, and a deputy chairman of the Publicity Committee for the re-introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT). Continuing to expand his interest and involvement in international affairs, in 2003 President Mahama became a member of the Pan-African Parliament, serving as the Chairperson of the West African Caucus. In 2005, he was, additionally, appointed the Minority Spokesman for Foreign Affairs. He served in these capacities until 2008, when he was handpicked to become the running-mate to the then NDC presidential candidate, Professor John Evans Atta Mills. President Mahama has seven children. He is married to Mrs. Lordina Mahama. Despite his often busy schedule, President Mahama makes it a point to devote time to his family, his faith and his hobbies. He is a Christian, who believes in the importance of respect for and tolerance of, other faiths and forms of worship in a nation as diverse and peaceful as Ghana. He has a keen interest in environmental affairs, particularly the problem of plastic pollution in Africa, which he committed himself to addressing during his tenure as Vice President. President Mahama loves to read. He is also an avid writer and has had numerous articles published nationally and internationally. His first book, “My First Coup d’État and Other True Stories From the Lost Decades of Africa”, was published by Bloomsbury on July 3, 2012. President Mahama stood on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Election 2012 and has been dully declared winner of the presidential poll by the Electoral Commission. He polled 5,574,761 representing 50.70 percent as against his close contender, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who had 5,248,898 of the valid votes cast, representing 47.74 percent. He was sworn-in yesterday, Monday, January 7, 2013, as the fourth President of Ghana’s Fourth Republic. Source: GNA

Upgrade polytechnics into technical universities

Upgrade polytechnics into technical universities - Rector of Takoradi Polytechnic Upgrade polytechnics into technical universities - Rector of Takoradi Polytechnic The Rector of the Takoradi Polytechnic, Rev Prof Daniel Nyarko, has advocated for upgrading of polytechnic institutions in the country into technical universities to offer a logical route for academic progression for students. He said if the nation wants to consolidate her middle-income status and strive for rapid industrialization and economic growth, Polytechnic education must be accorded priority attention. Rev Prof Nyarko made the appeal at the 12th Congregation of the Takoradi Polytechnic in Takoradi, on Saturday. He argued that upgrading polytechnics into technical universities would be more cost-effective in producing the skilled manpower resources required by the country towards fast-tracking national development instead of starting new technical universities from the scratch. The Rector cited some European and Southern Asian countries that adopted such education policies that propelled their economies to greater heights. Prof Nyarko disclosed that the polytechnic had acquired over 150-acre plots of land at Akatakyi in the Ahanta West District for the establishment of a School of Petroleum Studies.  The project, which would commence next year, is being funded by the African Development Bank (ADB) with $10 million dollars. He said it would involve the construction of 15 approved projects including lecture theatres, laboratories, recreational and workshop facilities, adding that the polytechnic had signed two memoranda of understanding with two investors that would provide modern staff and student accommodation and a medical facility at the new campus. In all, the Polytechnic awarded 2,732 graduates with degrees and diplomas comprising 68 Bachelor of Technology degrees, 2,609 Higher National Diplomas (HND) while 55 graduates received civil engineering certificates in competency-based training. Prof Nyarko said in the HND programme 59 graduates had First Class, 1,154 Upper Class,1,253 Second Class Lower and 150 Passes whilst 12 graduates had First Class, 45 Second Class Upper and 11 Second Class Lower in the Bachelor of Technology Degree programme. He said the polytechnic was poised to take maximum advantage of the oil discovery and, had therefore, established six ultra-modern petrochemical and hydraulic laboratories, which would enable the institution to offer courses in the emerging oil and gas industry. In an address read on his behalf, Mr Lee Ocran, the Minister of Education, commended the Takoradi Polytechnic for setting the pace for quality technical training in the country. He said polytechnic education provides knowledge and entrepreneurial skills to the human resource-base of the nation and entreated graduates to be innovative in their respective fields of endeavour to accelerate national development. Mr Ocran acknowledged the understanding showed by the Polytechnic Teacher Association of Ghana (POTAG) during the implementation of the Single Spine pay policy and assured them of government’s commitment to improve upon their welfare. Prof William Otoo Ellis, the Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), who graced the occasion expressed the hope that his presence would strengthen the relationship between the two education institutions. He said the Polytechnic, which falls under the category of Science and Technology would bolster partnership between them. Mr Charles Ayivi, an HND Statistics student, was adjudged the overall best student and received a laptop and a cheque of GHȼ1,000. source: myjoyonline