Norwegian oil and gas firm Aker Energy, operator of the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Point (DWT/CTP) Block offshore of the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana is set to open tender for well drilling contracts in September 2019.
“Latest by September, we will issue expression of interest and then award the contracts beginning of next year,” Edward Owusu-Manu, who is the Supply Chain Manager at Aker Energy, disclosed this to energynewsafrica.com.
He added that after the issuance of the Expression of Interest, the company would then go through certain internal and external approvals including approval from petroleum commission in line with the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations 2013 LI 2204.
Meanwhile, Aker Energy has held a seminar to build the capacity of local suppliers that the firm would deal with during its production activities offshore.
According to Edward Owusu-Manu, the conference had become necessary to acquaint prospective suppliers of the company with operational requirement.
“We are trying to go to the market for drilling and well services contracts, so we find it important that we actually engage instead of just sending emails to our suppliers,” he said.
“It is important that we start looking at the strategy especially for drilling and wells. So, this is to prepare our suppliers in anticipation of the drilling that will start sometime next year,” he added.
He said Aker Energy would comply with local content regulations of the country.
This follows concerns on local content participation raised by some suppliers at the event.
“We are aware that with this new development, there might be new companies that might want to come into the industry and it is a requirement by the local legislation for every international company to partner; link up with any local company and then form joint ventures to be able to provide that service,” Mr Owusu-Manu stressed.
Some of the issues discussed bordered on Technical and/or upcoming opportunities, Procurement processes, Quality, Health, Safety, Security and Environment (QHSSE) in the company’s, procurement process, Taxes (Reimbursement, Cash Refund and Withholding Taxes), among others.
The conference saw about 200 participants, both local and international.
Aker Energy has assured its prospective suppliers of fairness in its tender process.
Currently, Aker Energy is awaiting approval of its Plan of Development (POD) from the government to commence drilling operations on its allocated oil block offshore by 2020.
Source: energynewsafrica.com