Cape town. Oil majors Shell and Chevron have signed a non-binding agreement for the acquisition of production rights over Ghana's South Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points oil and gas block, Ghana's energy minister said.
The memorandum of understanding with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, signed on Tuesday, comes as the West African country looks to encourage investment and help reverse declining output.
Shell said the agreement provides a framework for further negotiations of final license terms, and is subject to relevant approvals. Chevron confirmed the MoU, saying it is "constantly reviewing new global exploration opportunities".
The government is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of its legal and fiscal framework for upstream petroleum activities.
Addressing an energy conference in Accra this week, Energy Minister John Jinapor told delegates that among reforms proposed was reducing GNPC's initial interest in upstream projects — which does not carry financial obligations — to 10% from 15 percent.
Other steps include introducing a simpler tax regime and adopting differentiated royalty treatment based on water depths.
Ghana's crude oil production dropped from a peak of 71.44 million barrels in 2019 to 48.25 million barrels in 2024, according to the US International Trade Administration.
However, major new investments in the Jubilee and TEN fields announced by Kosmos Energy and partners including Tullow Oil could fund the drilling of up to 20 new wells and bolster oil and gas output.
