Ghana’s oil and gas industry is to receive a major boost with the country set to take delivery of its third floating production storage and Offloading vessel in March next year.

According to operators of the Sankofa OCTP Oil Field, ENI Ghana, development is in an advanced stage with the first lifting of oil expected in august 2017. The $7 billion Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas project will see the development of the Sankofa and Gye Nyame fields which will provide substantial gas to operate Ghana’s thermal power plants for 20 years.

Oil production from the OCTP is estimated at 80,000 barrels per day and will start next year, while gas comes on board in 2018. The project will deliver 170 million cubic feet of gas daily and it is expected to generate an additional 1,100 megawatts of power for Ghana. Managing Director of ENI Ghana Fabio Cavanna said “the FPSO is coming to Ghana in March 2017 and all the facilities would have to be installed so the first storage would be confirmed in August and we are working hard also on the gas storage portion.”

The Minority in Parliament accused government of bloating the deal by $2 billion but responding to the allegations, the Managing Director of ENI Ghana said the company is focused on executing the project and would not be drawn into politics. He told TV3 in an interview that “we do not interact with politics.

It is a technically viable project which would provide a lot of benefits to the country because the gas we will be able to deliver is able to supply almost 1 gigawatt of power. “So having the gas today, you would be able to solve the Dumsor problem.” ENI holds a 44.4 percent stake in Sankofa, upstream trader Vitol holds 35.6 percent while GNPC holds a combined carried and participating interest of 20 percent.