UPDATE:Ghana Vice President: Country Prepared To Be Oil Economy

9th Jul 2010 17:29

(Adds details on Kosmos.) LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ghana's vice president said Friday that the country has taken the necessary steps to prepare itself to become an oil economy nation. Ghana's giant oil find the Jubilee Field is on target to produce its first oil in the fourth quarter this year, with the first cargo expected as early as December. "Schedules for oil production are well ahead, oil has the potential to be very much transformational for our economy," said Ghana Vice President Dramani Mahama speaking at a Chatham House briefing. He said the government has done extensive consultation with a number of oil producing countries including the U.K and Norway, in addition to Nigeria and Gabon, to understand their experiences and help prepare and appropriate legal and fiscal framework. "We have no excuses not to learn from the experience of other nations, the best and worst experiences," he said, adding that the government is working on legislation and safeguards "to ensure oil is a blessing not a curse," for the country. "We have strong civil society organizations and non-governmental sector - these can provide an early warning system raising the red flag when things go wrong," he added. A Petroleum Bill, Oil Revenue and Local Content Bills are all being drawn up, Mahami said. Meanwhile, talks between the Ghanaian government and U.S. oil company Kosmos Energy LLC are ongoing over the sale of the company's stake in the Jubliee field. The government blocked an estimated $4 billion sale of a stake in Jubilee, following months of talks between potential buyer Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and the stake's owner, Kosmos. The government has accused Kosmos of cutting Ghana's state-run oil company out of discussions about the field's development and then sharing information about the field with more than 20 potential buyers without the government's permission. Ghanaian Energy Minister Joe Oteng-Adjei has said state-run Ghana National Petroleum Corp. would be the only entity allowed to buy the Kosmos stake in Jubilee. Oteng-Adjei has already suggested that GNPC would be willing to pay a fair price for the Kosmos stake. Details of the government's offer remain to be seen, although sources close to the talks say a proposal has been put forward and funding secured. It remains unclear, however, whether this backing has been raised through capital markets. Kosmos is said to still be keen to do a deal with ExxonMobil. In addition to Kosmos and Ghana National Petroleum, Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) also own sizable stakes in the Jubilee field. -By Angela Henshall, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9285; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 09, 2010 12:29 ET (16:29 GMT)