GOIL says it is in talks with Tullow to take up a stake in its bid for the new oil block in the country.

The move is part of a broader strategy for GOIL to be heavy in the oil exploration business in the country.

New Acting Managing Director of GOIL, Kwame Osei-Prempeh who disclosed this to JoyBusiness says they have come very far with these discussions.

“…we are making an effort to partner Tullow as their local partners. If we look at our partnership with ExxonMobil, $25m is for 5 years but for GOIL $25m is not so much. We don’t know how much our exposure will be with the Tullow partnership because discussions haven’t gone so far but GOIL is suitable. We have the resources, we have the men, so we believe we have the capability.”

GOIL recently signed an agreement with Exxon Mobil to take 5 per cent carried interest in the company.

It recently secured shareholders’ approval to place to invest about $25 million in Exxon Mobil to aid their interest in their company.  

 Local ownership

 There has been a push by some foreign firms have in the past been pushing to secured some significant stake in GOIL. But the new Managing Director, Kwame Osei Prempeh we would do everything to protect the local ownership of GOIL. He adds that there is no justification to give any substantial part of the business to any foreign entity.

“the foreign share in GOIL as at now is just 0.01so GOIL is 99.9% owned by Ghanaians and so we believe that we can maintain that unique identity…” 

Mr Osei-Prempeh promised to focus on existing strategies to help position the company as a market leader.