Government has clinched a 90 day credit facility from Equatorial Guinea for the supply of 65,000 barrels of crude oil per day. This was disclosed by President Mills on his arrival from the Central African nation on Wednesday, where its president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema was sworn into office for yet another term. He has been in power since 1979. President Mills told Joy FM’s presidential correspondent Steven Anti the crude oil deal is as a result of close ties with the Equatorial Guinea spanning many years. “We have very close ties with Equatorial Guinea and of course as a side attraction we took the opportunity also to discuss oil and gas matters. I therefore took along with me some experts including the minister in oil and gas. I believe we had a fruitful discussion,” he said. Describing the inauguration as “successful” with lots of “goodwill all around”, President Mills said Nguema wants to forge even closer ties with Ghana. The Energy Minister Dr. Oteng Adjei hinted Ghana will receive its first supply of crude, latest February, 2010. “It is going to land when we’ve concluded the technical transactions and that is what I am saying it involves a lot of colleagues. The minister of Foreign Affairs is going to call a meeting on Monday and we working to see if we can conclude everything before the end of this year. If we can hit that, that will be good for us. “… If we can get that first one sometime in January next year or early February and that fits into our programme for the supply of crude perfectly,” he assured Similar transactions with Libya and Nigeria are yet to materialize, but the Energy Minister was hopeful, the deal will work out. He said the government of Equatorial Guinea is ready to collaborate with the Ghanaian government on hydro-electric power project. Equatorial Guinea is one of the smallest country on the continent, but is the third well endowed oil rich country in Africa. Play the attached audio for excerpts of the interviews with the President and the Energy Minister Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana