Eni and GNPC enhance partnership to unleash Ghana’s hydrocarbon potential

Italy’s energy player Eni and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) have reinforced their strategic partnership aiming to deepen collaboration and unlock new opportunities in the West African country’s oil and gas sector.

The shared commitment was reiterated during a high-level meeting held at GNPC’s office in Accra between GNPC’s newly appointed CEO, Kwame Ntow Amoah, and Eni Ghana’s Managing Director, Maurizio Pinna. 

The meeting focused on optimizing existing assets, speeding up production, and identifying prospects for future exploration. According to GNPC, it signaled a proactive approach to addressing the evolving demands of the global energy landscape.

GNPC’s new CEO thanked Eni for its longstanding contributions to Ghana’s energy landscape and underlined his company’s strategic priority of forging partnerships to optimize Ghana’s hydrocarbon resources.

Furthermore, he stressed the importance of combining the two firms’ expertise to develop untapped reserves, mitigate production declines, and ensure sustainable output in the long run.

“This dialogue reaffirms our joint dedication to advancing Ghana’s energy sector,” Ntow Amoah noted. “We are eager to enhance our collaboration with ENI, exploring innovative avenues to deliver sustained value to Ghana’s petroleum industry.”

Pinna echoed his counterpart’s sentiment by expressing commitment to its partnership with GNPC, especially in working towards Ghana’s broader goals of energy security and economic growth. 

“We embrace this new chapter of leadership at GNPC and extend our congratulations. Through improved cooperation, we are ready to lead transformative initiatives that will enhance Ghana’s prominence in the international energy sector,” said Pinna.

Looking forward, the two companies agreed to pursue joint goals such as establishing joint ventures, integrating advanced technologies, and investing in local capacity building to bolster Ghana’s energy infrastructure while fostering sustainable development.

Eni operates the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated project offshore Ghana for the development of oil and natural gas fields where the natural gas produced is intended to meet the demands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Its partners in the block are GNPC and Vitol.

Located off the west coast of Ghana, its Sankofa and Gye Nyame facilities are developed with wells and systems on the seabed, connected to the floating production and storage unit (FPSO) John Agyekum Kufuor owned by Yinson and built by Keppel. Oil production from the fields started in 2017, with gas production following suit a year later.

Eni also owns a stake in the Cape Three Points Block 4 offshore exploration license where it found what it says are “significant” gas resources and associated condensate.

As for the Italian giant’s activities elsewhere, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was recently signed with Petronas to explore the option of establishing a joint venture (JV) holding company to oversee selected upstream assets in Indonesia and Malaysia.