United States and Canadian oil and gas exploration companies - Devon Energy and Encana are drilling a deepwater well offshore the Keta basin. The two partners are expected to spend in excess of 20 million dollars on the well. The well will be drilled in about 6,000 feet of water and is the deepest such exploration of petroleum in Ghana’s waters.

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) officials have confirmed the beginning of the drilling exercise, expected to be completed by the end of June.

Ghana has had very little drilling experience in deepwater, unlike Nigeria and Angola, which have yielded some of the largest oil finds, in West Africa. The first deep water well in Ghana was drilled in the 1970’s by Phillips Petroleum, which also found oil in the Tano fields around the same time.

Hunt Oil, Nuevo Energy and Santa Fe, which was later acquired by Devon Energy, also began explorations offshore in the 1990’s. Meanwhile, Dana Petroleum, which is expected to begin deepwater exploration in the Tano basin, appears to have put those plans on hold following their unsuccessful drilling in shallower waters last year.