16 oil and gas firms have submitted applications for one or more of 5 Ghanaian offshore blocks in the West African country’s first oil exploration licensing round, Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Minister for energy in charge of petroleum has said.

The interest is a major vote of confidence in Ghana, which is eager to unlock more resources after it began pumping from its flagship offshore Jubilee field in 2010.

The companies that have submitted applications are Tullow Oil, Total, ENI, Cairn, Qatar Petroleum, BP, Global Petroleum Group, Aker Energy, Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation, Sasol and Equinor ExxonMobil, CNOOC, Vitol, First E&P and Kosmos.

The energy ministry said in a statement that the applications include expressions of interest in competitive bidding for 3 blocks in the Western Basin and for direct negotiations regarding another 2 blocks offshore Ghana.

Mohammed Amin Adam quoted “the high level of interest shown by major International Oil Companies in our first licensing round is a vote of confidence in the Ghanaian economy”.

A total of 60 applications were received, but two were invalidated as they were for a block reserved for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.

Currently Ghana produces 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), with the Jubilee field producing about 100,000 bpd.

Some of the interested oil firms have already started boosting their presence in Ghana.

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