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PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) – Ghana plans to begin natural gas production from its offshore Jubilee field by the fourth quarter of this year for domestic consumption, Energy Minister Joe Oteng-Adjei said on Monday.
Jubilee was discovered in 2007 by a partnership of the government and international companies, including London-based explorer Tullow Oil Plc, and is estimated to contain 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
"We’re looking at gas first," Oteng-Adjei told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Trinidad, where he gave an update on the country’s entry into the energy sector.
He said oil production will follow later since infrastructure first needs to be in place.
In the short term, the gas will be used to reduce a power shortage in Ghana, Oteng-Adjei said.
Ghana has had positive appraisals on the Mahogany and Tweneboa offshore fields discovered last year.
The African nation has chosen Trinidad and Tobago, which has produced oil for more than 100 years and gas for more than 20 years, to give technical assistance in preparing Ghana for oil and gas production.
http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE60P04220100126
