In order to easily attract investors to Ghana’s oil and gas sector, the country has been advised to prioritize the processing of its seismic data.
Ghana’s oil production has been on a constant decline since 2020 reducing by an average of 9.2% annually. This has put the country’s petroleum revenues at risk which further puts certain budgetary lines in jeopardy.
The situation is further worsened by the exit of many investors in the industry. Exxon Mobil, Aker Energy, and ENI, among others, have left the country’s oil and gas industry.
A number of factors, according to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) account for this declining crude oil production.
One major factor recommended to address the worrying trend of declining production is to attract more investments into the industry. Technical Manager at PIAC, Mark Agyemang has recommended that the best means the country can easily attract investors into the sector is by improving on the country’s quality of its seismic data.
Speaking in an interview with The High Street Journal, Mark Agyemang explained that Ghana’s current seismic data is in 2D which is not attractive to investors. He notes that there is the need for further processing of this 2D data to 3D data, and if possible further to 4D or 5D.
2D data is the data obtained after the first seismic survey of an area in search of crude oil either onshore (land) or offshore (sea). The data could be further processed to improve it to 3D or even further which easily attracts investors.
“To attract, you need to improve on the quality of data that you will present to the investors. That is the very first thing the government should do. We currently have 2D data. That 2D data needs to be further processed to 3D to improve the quality of that data,” he explained.
The 3D data and beyond, Mr. Agyemang explains increases the likelihood of discovery when prospected. Submitting just 2D data to investors means the investor will require additional resources to process the 2D data to 3D data which is a disincentive to many oil investors.
He therefore calling on the government to take charge and further process the 2D data in order to increase the chances of landing investors in the country’s oil and gas sector to improve production.
“What improving the data does is that it increases the probability of making a find when you sink a well. Prospectivity of the area increases as you improve upon the data. If an investor is coming with an improved data, he can narrow down to specific areas that there is the likelihood that when exploration is done, you will make a find,” he said further.
He added that “If you give 2D data to an investor, the investor has to use its own resources to further process it. So if you are investor and Ivory Coast has 3D data and Ghana has 2D data, where will you do, you will definitely go to where the 3D data is.”
Commenting on whether Ghana has the capacity for further processing, Mark Agyemang says such capacity, if the country does not have it presently, can be acquired to assist in the exercise.
