Springfield set to reveal offshore discovery bigger than Jubilee

Ghanaian company Springfield Group is set to reveal deepwater oil discovery located offshore Ghana that will reportedly be bigger than the Tullow-operated Jubilee offshore field. 

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Springfield would, in the following days, reveal it had made two discoveries offshore Ghana totaling 1.2 billion barrels of crude. The discovery is said to be bigger than Jubilee, Ghana’s biggest so far.

Ghana’s news outlet GhanaWeb also reported on Springfield’s historic oil discovery offshore Ghana.

Springfield started drilling the Afina-1x well, the first of its much anticipated new wells located off the coast of Ghana, in October, using the Stena Forth drillship.

The Afina-1x well is located at the West Cape Three Points Block 2 (WCTP Block 2) where Springfield is the operator with an 84% interest with the Ghana National Petroleum Company and its exploration company, EXPLORCO, holding the remaining interest.

Offshore Energy Today has reached out to Springfield seeking confirmation of the reports of a major oil discovery and further details about it.

In an email, Springfield told Offshore Energy Today it would very soon officially announce details of its maiden Afina-1 well discovery in the West Cape Three Points Block2, offshore Ghana.

The company said that the Afina-1, which is located at a water depth of 1030 meters, was drilled to a total depth of 4082 meters and encountered light oil with a gross thickness of 65 meters, with 50 meters light net oil pay in good quality Cenomanian sandstones.

The secondary target in Turonian age sands was drilled at the edge of the structure and encountered 10 meters of hydrocarbon-bearing sands consisting of light oil and gas.

Chief Executive Officer of Springfield, Kevin Okyere, said: “This is great news for Springfield, Ghana, and Africa. We are excited about the discovery as it ties into our vision of becoming a leading African upstream player with a global focus. This for us means increased opportunities to impact the lives of our people positively with the resources.”

Springfield’s discovery ‘historic for local content’

Commenting on reports of Springfield’s discovery, the African Energy Chamber said in a statement on Monday that the soon-to-be-announced deep water oil discovery offshore Ghana by independent Springfield Group is historic for Ghana and Africa’s local content.

“Not only does it mark the first deep water oil discovery made by an African oil company, but it could also be a bigger find than Ghana’s Jubilee Field, which remains the biggest oilfield in the country,” the African Energy Chamber said.

According to the African Energy Chamber, while figures are still temporary and several additional assessments need to be conducted, the discovery is the result of the drilling of two wells over the past 40 days, which both struck oil. As much as 1.2bn barrels of oil could be held within the deposit, with up to 35% recoverable according to Springfield. Equally important, commercially viable quantities of gas were also discovered, the African Energy Chamber added.

Nj Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber and CEO at the Centurion Law Group, said: “Africa is a burning exploration frontier where the most significant oil & gas discoveries are being made not only by international explorers but by our own companies. The Ghana discovery is the result of efforts made by African entrepreneurs, in a country where first discoveries were made only 12 years ago.

“More importantly, it was made within a block that was relinquished by US explorer Kosmos Energy, known to be a front-runner in making massive discoveries across Africa and opening up new frontiers. It speaks volumes to the value that local content development can create when African companies and entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to contribute to their industry.”

From no oil to sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth-biggest oil producer

The African Energy Chamber noted that, in only a decade, Ghana went from not producing oil to becoming sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth-biggest oil producer, with current production averaging about 195,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).

The country has been spearheading transformations within the continent’s energy sector, providing the right market-driven policies and environment for African companies to acquire world-class assets from international counterparts, such as Springfield’s acquisition of Kosmos Energy block, or Chrome Resources and Rockefield’s acquisition of the West Keta block operatorship from Hess Corp after its exit in 2014.

Since the discovery of the Jubilee oilfield by Kosmos Energy in 2007, Ghana has managed to bring three offshore projects on stream, resolve its maritime border dispute with Cote d’Ivoire, and position itself as a key hydrocarbons province in the Gulf of Guinea.

Oil is now being produced from Jubilee field, Twenneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme fields, and Offshore Cape Three Points Integrated oil and gas development project. Production is expected to reach 250,000 bopd next year, and most optimistic expectations put output at half a million barrels a day by 2025.

The African Energy Chamber called on the government of Ghana to incentivize the full development of the block.

“Such a discovery has the potential to spur considerable economic growth for Ghana, already the world’s fastest-growing economy this year,” The African Energy Chamber concluded.