Board Chairman of Tullow PLC, Phuthuma Nhleko has commended Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh for the outstanding leadership he showed in efforts towards ensuring the realization of first oil from the Jubilee South East Area of the Greater Jubilee Field.
According to Mr. Nhleko, Dr. Prempeh as Minister, with the necessary foresight gave the needed briefing to President Akufo-Addo on the project, held dispassionate discussions with stakeholders and also approved the Greater Jubilee Plan of Development (PoD).
He made these remarks when he addressed Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector stakeholders at a commemorative lunch with His Excellency the President at the Best Western Plus Atlantic Hotel, Takoradi on Friday, 8th September 2023. This was to celebrate first oil from the area which is expected to produce an additional 30,000 bopd bringing production in the Greater Jubilee Field to over 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Production according to Tullow began on 13th July, 2023.
“I want to commend the Energy Minister for his excellent role; approving the Greater Jubilee Plan of Development” he said.
He assured that; Tullow remained committed together with its partners for optimal production in the field in the spirit of sound investor relations with government.
On his part, Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh said sustained discussions, which started in 2017, between the Energy Ministry, GNPC and the Jubilee partners, eventually led to the approval of the Greater Jubilee Full Field Development Plan.
“One thing was certain in all the engagements back then: that the Jubilee field was going to be an investment that would surely lead to increased production in a mature field and pave way for immense value and benefits for the country” he said.
The Minister who is also Member of Parliament for Manhyia South said the natural God-given hydrocarbon resource that Ghana has been blessed with as a country, is for the benefit of the citizens and therefore value from it continues to create jobs. 90% of the human resource working on the Jubilee South East project, he said are all Ghanaians and therefore he, together with stakeholders will continue to provide the necessary direction which will transform lives and ultimately, transform our economy.
“Our role as a Ministry is to work with the regulators and other stakeholders from the Government side, to formulate policies and strategies that will give the key sector players confidence and optimism to continue harnessing resources and investment to transform the industry” he remarked
He continued “The Jubilee South East project is just a stepping stone to other successes to come for the country. As a Ministry, we remain committed to supporting the negotiation of the gas sales agreement to give a further boost to the oil and gas sector, especially the aspect of tapping into domestic natural gas to, among other benefits, power electricity delivery in the country” Dr. Prempeh added.
The Minister expressed gratitude to the President, for his presence in Takoradi to “support us in this celebration” and extended same to the Board and leadership of Tullow Oil and their partners for their tenacity and relentlessness in making this possible.
The commemorative lunch was preceded with a visit to FPSO Kwame Nkrumah (KNK), offshore by His Excellency the President, the Energy Minister, Senior Officials of the Jubilee partners and other government officials where there was a full briefing on the project.
