Invitation For Expression Of Interest And Pre-Qualification For Petroleum Exploration And Production Licences, Offshore

In Ghana, the title of petroleum resources existing in its natural state in, under or upon any land in Ghana, rivers, streams, water courses throughout Ghana, the exclusive economic zone and any area covered by territorial sea or continental shelf is the property of the Republic of Ghana and vested in the President on behalf of and in trust for the people of Ghana. 

The Ministry of Energy (MoEn) is responsible for the management of petroleum resources through the formulation of policies and regulations to ensure sustainable and optimal exploitation of the petroleum resources in accordance with the principles of good Governance, transparency and accountability to the benefit of present and future Ghanaians. 

Historically, Ghana has been exploring for petroleum for over a century before the discovery of Jubilee in 2007. At this while, Ghana has practised an open door system for the allocation of Exploration and Production (E&P) rights. The criteria for award of E&P rights in the open door system are not predefined and known to market participants. Therefore, the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 2016 Act 919 was enacted to ensure the management of the resources is conducted in accordance with the principles of good governance. 

Pursuant to Section 10(3) of the Act, a Petroleum Agreement is to be entered into through an open, transparent and competitive public tender process in furtherance of the aforementioned provision, the Government of the Republic of Ghana invites companies to express interest to be pre-qualified for the 1st Oil and Gas License Round process. The blocks on offer are GH_WB_02, GH_WB_03 and GH_WB_O4, all in the Western Basin, offshore Ghana. 

The Licensing Round is to enable the Government of Ghana to accelerate upstream activities so as to increase reserves and production of petroleum resources. 

The 1st Oil and Gas licensing round's objective, pursuant to Regulation 16 (2a) of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) (General) Regulations, L.I 2359, is for Government of Ghana to have significant participation interest as defined in the evaluation criteria.

The Ministry of Energy will make available legacy data, including but not limited to 2D and 3D seismic data, well information and associated reports maps and reports of commissioned studies to applicants for evaluation of the prospectivity of the area(s) of interest. Detailed information on legacy data in relation to the available blocks can be accessed at ghanalr2018.com.

Block GH_WB_02 lies in water depth ranging from 100 to 1000 meters. This area is covered by approximately 60% of 2D and 5% of 3D seismic data. The Sankofa-Gye-Nyame field is about 24 kilometers from this block. A working petroleum system has been prawn with the discovery of Dzata and Cheeta within the vicinity. 

A body corporate who wishes to participate in Ghana’s 1st oil and Gas License Round must submit an Expression of interest (EoI) to the Minister of Energy. The EoI shall be in accordance with Regulation 9 of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) (General) Regulations, 2018, L.I 2359 include the following:  

The Minister has, pursuant to Regulation 9(3) of the petroleum (Exploration and Production) (General) Regulations, L.I 2359 decided that a pre-qualification process will precede the Tender Process. A body corporate seeking to be pre-qualified must submit an application for pre-qualification to the Ministry of Energy. The application shall include information on the following:  

Details of above listed requirements are stated in the application form for pre-qualification. Application forms for pre-qualification can be picked up at the Ministry of Energy or a copy can be downloaded at energymin.gov.gh, petroleum.gov.gh.

SUBMISSION OF EoI AND PRE-QUALIFICATION APPLICATION

The Expression of interest (EoI) and pre-qualification application should be submitted in quadruplicate (both printed copies and digital format). The four copies should be sealed in separate envelopes and delivered to the Ministry of Energy at the following address: 

The envelope(s) shall be marked “CONFIDENTIAL” and labelled: GHANA 1ST OIL AND GAS LICENSE ROUND: BLOCK NUMBER 

Deadline for submission of Expression of interest and application for pre-qualification is December 30, 2018 at 5 pm (local time). 

Application fee for pre-qualification is 10,000 USD and is payable by Banker’s Draft addressed to the Chief Director, Ministry of Energy. The Banker’s Draft should be included in the pre-qualification application package to be submitted. The application fee may also be paid into the account below and evidence of payment enclosed in the pre-qualification application package. 

The 1st Oil and Gas License Round will span over 10 months from October 2018 to August 2019 with the activities scheduled below:  

Pursuant to Section 10(4) of Act 919, the Minister may on stated reasons decide not to enter Into a Petroleum Agreement after the tender process as prescribed. Further to this, the Government of Ghana reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, at any time, to terminate further participation in the License Round by any party, to change the structure and timing of the License Round and/process to refuse a particular party entry to the next round of the Tender Process, to amend the Information contained In this document or to terminate the 1st Oil and Gas License Round. The Government of the Republic of Ghana shall not be liable for any costs, expenses or other liabilities incurred by any participants at any stage of the 1st Oil and Gas License Round. 

Following pre-qualification, companies will be expected to purchase the relevant data package to submit a conforming bid.