{"id":445842,"date":"2011-06-22T19:25:18","date_gmt":"2011-06-22T19:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/22\/multinational-companies-drill-for-oil-off-coast\/"},"modified":"2011-06-22T19:25:18","modified_gmt":"2011-06-22T19:25:18","slug":"multinational-companies-drill-for-oil-off-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/22\/multinational-companies-drill-for-oil-off-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Multinational Companies Drill for Oil Off Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"allAfrica.com\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Boakai Fofana<\/p>\n

22 June 2011<\/p>\n

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Monrovia \u2014 Multinational petroleum companies wanting to drill for oil off Liberia’s shores are sealing exploration deals with the Liberian government.<\/p>\n

The investment in exploration is among many big injections of investment that have been made in the country’s economy since the end of the civil war that shattered the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

The possibility that oil deposits may exist was first raised by the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Texas in the United States, which found oil off Sierra Leone in 2009. Now another American firm, Chevron \u2013 one of the world’s largest energy companies \u2013 has joined those attracted to Liberia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we are successful, we are looking at investments of billions of dollars,\u201d according to Karl Cottrell, the Liberia country manager for Chevron.<\/p>\n

Liberia\u2019s coastline is on the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea. Although both of Liberia’s neighbors \u2013 Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire \u2013 have found offshore oil reserves, Liberian waters have yet to yield productive oil fields.<\/p>\n

Although Cottrell spelled out the benefits that could accrue to Liberia if oil was found, he cautioned that the country is not yet at that point. \u201cBetween now and when we can foreseeably see oil production on any exploration success, is roughly eight to 10 years,\u201d he said in an interview with AllAfrica in the company’s Monrovia office.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Chevron<\/a><\/p>\n

Liberian Vice President Veep Joseph Boakai greeting Chevron’s officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He said the exploration phase, which is expected to last three years, involves gathering data to try to locate oil and determine whether it has sufficient commercial value to justify the large-scale investment required.<\/p>\n

The company signed a deal to explore three deep-water blocks covering a combined area of 3,700 square miles. Chevron will hold a 70 percent interest in the concessions. Cottrell said the company has identified its first well location: \u201cThat allows us to do the detailed design on how we actually drill that well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already the Liberian media have started to talk up the potential benefits to the country, and to ask whether they will be a blessing or a curse. And for many ordinary people, the discovery of commercially viable deposits is a foregone conclusion: they believe they’re there and that corrupt officials have already started to feed off the proceeds.<\/p>\n

This is Liberia\u2019s first offshore exploration in 25 years. Between 1971 and 1985 the country drilled seven wells, many of which were dry. Cottrell said data analysed so far indicates that Chevron has a 25 to 30 percent probability of success. That has been enough to encourage the company to make its initial investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving said that, 75 percent of the time we are still going to be unsuccessful,\u201d Cottrell said. Even in an area with potential, he said, the chances of success are never more than 50 percent.<\/p>\n

The company recently initiated a five-year, U.S.$10.5 million corporate social responsibility investment in Liberia’s socio-economic development, which it says is to support the country\u2019s Poverty Reduction Strategy. Whether or not Chevron finds viable oil deposits, Cottrell said, \u201cWe want to leave some sort of legacy\u2026. in that we have built education up. We have helped in the area of health. And we have developed some enterprises.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberia\u2019s largest referral hospital, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, other health centers and the University of Liberia are some of the institutions that have benefited from the investment so far. \u201cWe are funding part of the under-five ward and also have put forward a generator for the psychiatric ward [at JFK],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In March, the company said it had earmarked daily spending of $1 million when a full drilling operation begins. At a ceremony marking the opening of Chevron\u2019s office complex in Monrovia, Joseph Boakai, the country\u2019s vice president, said that \u201cChevron represents an expression of confidence in Liberian society, which is an essential condition for attracting other major investors in all sectors of our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company, with others operating oil exploration blocks along Liberia\u2019s coast, has been working to manage public expectations. At a two-day workshop to explain oil exploration and drilling to journalists, Cottrell faced the daunting task of educating a number who seemed fixated in the belief that there are commercially exploitable oil reserves.<\/p>\n

In a two-hour presentation, the country manager explained that oil exploration and drilling was a risky business which isn\u2019t always successful. \u201cBut why are you here then?\u201d a few of the journalists asked skeptically.<\/p>\n

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\nMultinational Companies Drill for Oil Off Coast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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