Ghana
will
start
commercial
oil
production
on
Dec. 17,
a
government
official
said
Thursday.
"We are expecting first oil on Dec. 17," deputy information
minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa told AFP.
"The government and the Jubilee partners are anxiously looking forward to
the day," he added, referring to the offshore oil field where the
production will occur.
The Jubilee field, discovered in 2007 by U.S. firm Kosmos and operated by Anglo-Irish
company Tullow Oil PLC (TUWOY), is estimated to contain some 1.6 billion
barrels of crude, making it one of the largest finds in West Africa in recent
years.
Tullow said this month that it expected production to reach 50,000 barrels per
day before the end of the year.