The Embassy of Italy in Ghana has congratulated the Ghana government, Italian Oil & Gas Company, ENI, VITOL and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) for the first oil which has been extracted well ahead of schedule from the OCTP project.

The Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy, Lorenzo Pinelli, on behalf of his Ambassador Giovanni Favilli in a press release Thursday said, “the OCTP project makes the bilateral relations between Ghana and Italy even stronger.

"It perfectly fits in a long trail blazed by the first Italians who arrived in Ghana (at the time known as Gold Coast) more than 100 years ago in order to build the first roads, railways and mines of this beautiful country."

He added that the two countries shared and long-standing history continues with many other infrastructural achievements, such as the construction of the Akosombo dam by Impregilo Salini and Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) by AGIP/ENI with the OCTP project, cementing a long-term partnership between Ghana, Italy, ENI, Vitol, and the GNPC.

“Even more laudable is the fact that the gas from this field will be commercialised locally in order to drive and promote the development of this country and to put a definitive end to the much hated “dumsor,” Mr Favilli said. 

According to him, "the cost of this kind of energy will be significantly economical for the people of Ghana and an added advantage for Small and Medium Enterprises as they further create a larger industrial sector capable of providing thousands of jobs every year”.

Considered one of the global super-majors, ENI is currently operating in 73 countries.

Africa provides over half of ENI’s total production of oil and natural gas, confirming the company as the leading international producer in the Continent.

The Italian Government owns a 30.303% golden share in ENI.