How long will the crude oil found in Ghana last?

Answer 1

I have provided several links related to the oil discoveries in Ghana. I have tried to avoid government announcements which can be overly optimistic, and have instead used the announcements and presentations of the operator, Tullow Oil.

When oil is first discovered, an initial calculation must be made of the recoverable oil to see if preliminary economics justifies additional drilling. These estimates are subject to revisions, up and down as the field is being delineated.

From releases from Tullow Oil, reserves in newly discovered fields may exceed one billion barrels. The rate of production will depend on the number of wells and the production capacity of each well. In some countries, the government can impose allowables, or maximum rate of production. I don't know if this is the case for Ghana.

Tullow Oil has not stated for how long they expect the newly discovered fields will last, and any estimate is likely to be very inaccurate. The production profile will have three stages, an initial ramping up as new wells are tied into production facilities, a plateau period, and a long period of decline. I've worked out a number of scenarios, which would put a productive life in terms of decades rather than centuries. For one billion barrels of reserves, a productive life is probably less than 100 years if the wells are high capacity. In deep water, high capacity wells (>5,000 BOPD) are usually a necessity. Production will go to a floating production station, which will have some capacity restrictions.

The delineation and subsequent exploration may further revise estimates of recoverable oil. Tullow seems quite willing to share with the public their information, so I would advise that you continue to visit their website or search the web for new releases.