Ivory Coast wants TEN oil project suspended

OREANDA-NEWS. The Ivory Coast has demanded that UK-listed Tullow Oil stop oil development in an area close to a disputed offshore maritime boundary.

Tullow is leading the development of the \\$5bn-6bn, 80,000 b/d capacity Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) project in the Deepwater Tano block, which it and Ghana say is in Ghanaian waters.

But Ivory Coast, which has been in dispute with Ghana for over two years, has requested the Hamburg-based International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) implement "provisional measures" that would force Ghana to suspend ongoing exploration and exploitation operations in the disputed area in which the TEN project is situated.

The dispute could potentially delay TEN, where first oil is expected in the second half of 2016. TEN is Ghana's second oil field project after the 120,000 b/d capacity Jubilee offshore project, which produced first oil in 2010.

Bilateral talks between the Ghana and Ivory Coast governments have failed to resolve their maritime dispute since 2010. The two agreed in January this year that their dispute be decided by a special tribunal of ITLOS consisting of five judges. ITLOS on 24 February set out a procedure for both governments to present their cases to the tribunal in October 2016.

The final verdict by ITLOS is not expected until the end of 2017, Tullow Oil said today. A ruling on Ivory Coast's application that ITLOS implement "provisional measures" was expected before April this year.

"Tullow's advice from external counsel is that Ghana has a strong case under international law that the current boundary location, which follows an equidistance line, will be upheld by ITLOS in accordance with the Law of the Sea Convention to which both states are party," Tullow said. "It is our view that it is in the best interest of all parties that the TEN project continues to move ahead without delay and unencumbered by legal tactics of this nature."

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the convention.

The Deepwater Tano licence covers an area of more than 800 sq km and and lies around 20km west of the Jubilee field. The Ghana government approved the development of Ten in 2013.