Ghana’s oil discovery in 2007 and its subsequent commercial production on December 15, 2010 has given hopes to the people of Togo.
The people believe that Ghana’s success makes Togo’s prospects of finding oil offshore bright.
Togo recently signed an oil exploration agreement with Italian oil giant, ENI, to renew the country’s dream of discovering oil which began in 1969.
Ghana’s Keta Basin oil find which is estimated to produce about 600 million barrels and stretches as far as Togo, gives more hope to the Togolese.
“Togo’s optimism is fuelled by the excitement that since neighbouring Ghana to the east has discovered oil, the prospects for the discovery of oil on the Togolese side of the Volta Basin were positive”, a Daily Graphic report said on March 18, 2011.
Meanwhile ENI announced on March 10, 2011, in its 2011-2014 Strategic Plan that it will spend about €53.3 billion for upstream activities to increase global oil and gas and to start new projects in promising exploration prospects in countries such as Togo, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique.
The Daily Graphic report, quoted Scaroni Paolo, President and Director General of ENI as saying that “ENI will not have entered an off-shore exploration agreement with the Togolese authorities if there were no prospects for oil in Togo”.
For the past six years, Togo has signed several oil exploration contracts with foreign companies to materialize this dream, the report said.
By Ekow Quandzie