Kosmos to list of GSE

Business (lead) Feb 23/2008

Story & Picture: Charles Benoni Okine

KOSMOS Energy has hinted that it will raise some funds on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in the near future, should it require additional capital to continue its oil exploration in the deep waters of the country.
It said although it required up to $10 billion over the next three to four years to be able to fully drill all the wells within its area of operation, there was no intention yet to float shares on the GSE.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of Kosmos Energy, Mr James C. Musselman, gave the hint when he briefed a selected number of newsmen in Accra on Wednesday.
He said studies had revealed that there were large deposits of crude oil within the Cape Three Points area of the Western Region and gave the assurance that all efforts would be made to ensure that the oil was drawn.
Mr Musselman was flanked by the Country Manager of the company, Mr George Yaw Owusu, the Chief Financial Officer, Mr Yaw Owusu, and the Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr George Sarpong.
The GSE has been one of the very reliable sources of raising funds by Ghanaian and foreign companies wishing to recapitalise to boost their operations, the latest of such being Golden Star Resources, the second mining company to list after AngloGold Ashanti.
Mr Musselman said although the company had been able to discover oil, a lot of work involving money still remained to be done to ensure that Ghana realised all the treasure it had under the sea bed. He added that raising money on the stock market was possible but that it would not do so now.
Kosmos Energy, noted for its quick exploration record, was adjudged the "Explorer of the Year" by the World Junior Oil & Gas Congress late last year after it had been recognised for the company's discovery of the Mahogany Field in Ghana's deep waters, possibly one of the largest oil finds offshore West Africa in the last decade.
The World Junior Oil & Gas Congress awards celebrate the leaders, innovators and pioneers in the junior oil and gas industry around the globe and their most outstanding achievements.
Mr Musselman said the drilling was being done in phases to ensure that at every stage thorough work was done before moving on to the next phases.
He mentioned the efforts by the company to draw its first substantial oil from the area by the middle of next year and noted that that move was necessary not only because “Ghana was hungry for oil” but also to allow the company to better know much about the reservoir from which the oil would be drilled.
Mr Musselman said part of the money would be used in laying a number of pipelines on the ocean floor to transport the oil straight into giant ships which would dock to pick it.
He said Kosmos had other shareholders as far as its operations within the Cape Three Points were concerned and noted that any expenditure for now would have to be agreed among the partners before any decision was arrived at.
Mr Musselman said the company had more data on the area where it was carrying out its operations but added that there was the need for it to think critically as time went by to be able to maximise production.
He said one of the key strengths of the company was its ability to take risk.
“Where the big guys shy away is where we like most and that has paid off since we started operations,” he added.
Mr Musselman described the company as risk takers and noted that it had assembled very competent workers such as geophysicists of international repute to work, saying that explained the results the company was getting since it began operations.