Accra based Swiss-Ghanaian transactional advisory firm, Konfidants has projected that International Tribunal Law of the Seas’ (ITLOS) ruling on the maritime boundary case will cost Tullow Oil alone, “at least $500 million.”<\/p>\n
ITLOS ruled that Ghana may proceed<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>with on-going oil exploration\u00a0projects in the disputed area of the maritime boundary with the Ivory Coast \u00a0in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”f1CcuIx9jdAUc9pMXCRspsAnas8kSWf9″]The Tribunal however directed Ghana\u00a0to ensure that the country \u201ctakes all necessary steps to ensure that no new drilling either by Ghana or under its control takes place in the disputed area.\u201d<\/p>\n Konfidants however believes the ruling will not augur well for the British oil company despite its intentions to proceed with the TEN project.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n “The analysis further shows that by restricting the base case scenario, the ITLOS\u00a0Judges have thus cost the TEN partners at least $1 billion in losses, of which\u00a0Tullow, as the lead operator, would be saddled with at least $500 million,” an analysis by Konfidants indicated.<\/p>\n According to the firm, \u201cthe\u00a0halt to all extended reach drilling, and interference in the timeline of the Wawa field\u00a0appraisal and development (including potential integration into TEN) were largely\u00a0discounted.\u201d<\/p>\n The ITLOS in its provisional measures granted to Cote D\u2019lvoire also ruled among other things that Ghana shall carry out strict and continuous monitoring of all activities undertaken by Ghana or with its authorization in the disputed area with a view to ensuring the prevention of serious harm to the marine environment.<\/p>\n Regarding \u00a0that particular ruling, Konfidants said \u201cthe Judges themselves were of this opinion: \u2018C\u00f4te d\u201fIvoire has not adduced sufficient evidence to support its allegations that the activities conducted by Ghana in the disputed area are such as to create an imminent risk of serious harm to the marine environment.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The firm said the measure can be described as \u201cmerely precautionary\u201d, adding that is \u201cunlikely that it will lead to any change in the status quo existing in the disputed area.\u00a0They are measures (a) and (b) that have created all the confusion in the air, and for good\u00a0reason.\u201d<\/p>\n The ITLOS also requested that Ghana be prevented from circulating data in respect of exploitation and exploration in the area but Konfidants\u00a0 believes that \u201ceven if Ghana were ordered to stop gathering information from\u00a0now on, the damage to C\u00f4te d\u201fIvoire would still increase day by day if Ghana\u00a0continues to process the data that it has already acquired.\u201d<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Marian Efe Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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