Ghana’s new government has revoked a 2020 order requiring Eni and Vitol Holding BV to merge their Sankofa field with the neighboring Afina discovery, operated by Springfield Exploration and Production Ltd., according to an official letter seen by Bloomberg.
The move comes three weeks after Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi met with Ghana’s new president, John Mahama. Seven months earlier, an international arbitration court ruled that the previous administration’s directive to combine the fields was unlawful.In a Feb. 25 letter, Energy and Green Transition Minister John Jinapor formally announced the withdrawal of the unitization directive to the three companies involved. A ministry official confirmed the letter’s authenticity.
Eni welcomed the decision, while a Springfield spokesperson expressed confidence in the government’s support for an amicable resolution between the parties.Merging oil fields is common in the industry, allowing for more efficient development through shared infrastructure and proportional resource allocation.Eni and Vitol opposed the merger of Sankofa with Springfield’s Afina, arguing that the process, which allocated Afina 54.5% of the combined field while leaving Sankofa with a smaller share, did not meet legal and industry standards.
Ghana’s government revoked the order after a thorough review of the Stockholm arbitration court’s ruling and legal advice from the country’s new attorney general, according to the letter.
