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	<title>GhanaBlogging.com &#187; March  7, 2010</title>
	<link>http://ghanablogging.com/</link>
	<description>GhanaBlogging.com &#187; March  7, 2010</description>
	<generator>Gregarius 0.6.0</generator>
	<language>en</language>
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		<title>Maya's earth: Laptop abuse</title>
		<link>http://mayasearth.blogspot.com/2010/03/laptop-abuse.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:24:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://mayasearth.blogspot.com/2010/03/laptop-abuse.html</guid>
	    				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	This evening my laptop made me cry. Yes, you read right, my LAPTOP made me cry. After trying to send of a work report for about an hour, somewhere between the internet connection flashing on and off and my laptop freezing for the fourth time, I slammed my hands on to the dining table in despair and when Virgo asked what was wrong, I suddenly felt tears running down my face as I tried to explain my frustration. Granted, I know it is a complete overreaction to a ridiculously temperamental internet connection and a failing laptop (which has otherwise worked wonderfully for its whole first year of life, although sorry Acer, I’m a Toshiba girl and they usually work well for two or three years before slowing down.), probably caused by lack of sleep, stress of all the wahala that’s been going on lately and the pressure of trying to get this report sent in by the end of 7th March.<br /><br />It just made me realise the power technology has on us these days, I’ve felt completely powerless all evening and that has certainly not been helped by the fact that I now know my computer has the power to make me cry!<br />(Of course all this was written in Word as the network timed out about three times whilst I tried to write.) Anyhoo, the report finally got sent and thankfully tomorrow we have an extra weekend day to continue what has otherwise been a lovely Independence Day weekend.<br /><br />How have you spent the weekend?<img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4913928809714336337-693487127257457691?l=mayasearth.blogspot.com' alt='' /> ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>The English version of it all: Pimp my blog</title>
		<link>http://amabroni.blogspot.com/2010/03/pimp-my-blog.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:56:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://amabroni.blogspot.com/2010/03/pimp-my-blog.html</guid>
	    				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	Im playing with blogspot. HTML and stuff like that. Im not good. Anybody wanna teach me something?? I wanna pimp my blog...<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5T1QxuE8xbI/S5Qg-ijuklI/AAAAAAAAAkw/tPdCE-YDS_M/s1600-h/IMG_7373.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5T1QxuE8xbI/S5Qg-ijuklI/AAAAAAAAAkw/tPdCE-YDS_M/s640/IMG_7373.JPG" /></a><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2494012953748530791-5138112687920108886?l=amabroni.blogspot.com' alt='' /> ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Holli's ramblings: Up in The Air - Observations of a traveler</title>
		<link>http://hollisramblings.blogspot.com/2010/03/up-in-air-observations-of-traveler.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:40:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://hollisramblings.blogspot.com/2010/03/up-in-air-observations-of-traveler.html</guid>
	    				<author>The pale observer</author>		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	I’m in an airport again. Ran around like an absolute mad woman at the office today, delusional in the belief I would get all the loose ends tied up and leave early. Got home the usual time, threw the last things into my bag (realized the humidity in Accra is rotting the zippers of the luggage), and had a shower. Then ran around the house trying to organise food for the boys at home for the week, and had about half an hour to unwind. Now I’m sitting in Accra’s International airport. It’s 33 celcius outside and it’s 9pm. The air-conditioners are not working in the airport today. Little tickly beads of sweat are gathering into fluid streams, and find their way down my temples, behind my ears, under my bra. I feel soggy. <br /><br />An hour ago I was fresh and clean. <br /><br />This scenario plays out about twice a month. I travel a lot for work. Every chance I get, I travel for pleasure as well. Sometimes I like to combine the two. I probably travel too much but who’s to say what’s too much. Last month it was Sierra Leone, now it is Canada, later this month it will be Lebanon and Jordan (but that one’s for pleasure!), and then the day we get back, we’re on a plane to Nigeria.<br /><br />Whenever I am in transit I find myself considering my identity, my place, my cultural constructs of the world. Where do I belong?<br /><br />I’m looking down at myself. My t-shirt was bought in Houston while at an Oil &amp; Gas exhibition. My jeans were bought last year on the trip to the PDAC show in Toronto. My shoes were bought when down in South Africa last year for a wedding. We got my watch in Los Angeles on Rodeo Drive (which was a bit surreal). My laptop from a mall in Germany, my phone on a trip through Dubai. <br /><br />Living in Ghana, where adventures with local salons have led to disaster*, I even have a hairdresser in Dubai! Go to her every time I’m passing through. I think that might be an indication that I travel too much.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DnXDQGcPK04/S5PYhOcz1dI/AAAAAAAABfk/BhmMb7L7CqI/s1600-h/jfk-airport-information.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DnXDQGcPK04/S5PYhOcz1dI/AAAAAAAABfk/BhmMb7L7CqI/s400/jfk-airport-information.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /><br />This trip is taking me via Heathrow, back ‘home’ to Canada. The term ‘home’ doesn’t really fit into my reality. Though Toronto is my birthplace and I grew up in the surrounding suburbs, I have lived in a completely different world for close to 15 years. I’ve spent 14 of the 22 years of my adult life (that’s 63%), on another continent in a world so far away on so many levels. My concerns are not the concerns of anyone I know in Canada. My day to day reality, something so different, so removed. And now that has become the norm for me. <br /><br />I think the day I first realized the extent of my alienation was when I arrived at Pearson International some years ago, carried along by the drowsy crowds of arriving passengers, and noticed acutely the accents of the immigration officers. I picked up the certain nuances that characterize a Canadian accent  - something I didn’t realize existed before I left her shores. <br /><br />In the expat world of Ghana, I spend time amongst Ghanaians, Nigerians, British, Germans, Jordanians, Polish, Lebanese, South Africans, Americans, Spanish, Italians, French - and the odd Canadian. <br /><br />For now, that life is home. Our house, a 70’s monstrosity, was once the Libyan Embassy. With company furniture and a few local nick nacks, we have no sentimental connection. Our next home will be a boat, and we will take it where our whims carry us.<br /><br />Over past few years, whenever I arrive back in Toronto I find that I’ve lost the connection to the city.  It has become like so many others – arrive one week, notice the new buildings, smell the unfamiliar air, off to another destination the next week.<br /><br />With an outsider’s eye, the city no longer feels comfortable. It has no spark, no recognizable beauty. It is a suburb. Life goes on here, mothers take their kids to school in their 4x4s, each neighborhood has it’s chain store mall, the sidewalks are straight and the grass is cut. There are laws and rules and things work. Elevators go up and down, water comes from the taps. In winter a grey hue descends and covers everything. It wills people to hibernate against it’s grizzly embrace. In summer it is peeled away and people live more each day for those few ‘thawed’ months, when the sun visits. <br /><br />All of this is a foreign world to me. At ‘home’ in Accra I dodge potholes in the road, look away at traffic lights, as the beggars push their thin babies to the car window. I argue with the house cleaner/cook about putting mint instead of basil in the spaghetti sauce and for forgetting that bleach isn’t to be used on the coloured clothes… I worry about the generator not starting or the water supply being cut off for weeks. I worry about the malaria spreading mosquitos every night when we’re out past 6pm. I consider 26 degrees celcius a cold day and 38 degrees a hot day – and I can expect the average temperature all year to be 30 to 34…<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DnXDQGcPK04/S5PY10Y0GpI/AAAAAAAABfs/FeogPD7SNrY/s1600-h/curtain-border.jpg"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DnXDQGcPK04/S5PY10Y0GpI/AAAAAAAABfs/FeogPD7SNrY/s400/curtain-border.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /><br />11 hours have passed and I’m in another airport. I’m surrounded by a whirlwind of colour and sound – undecipherable chatter and coats and bags and parcels and the swoosh of late passengers dashing toward gates.<br /><br />I sit quietly and am very aware of myself as one among the many. Just another passenger headed to another destination. <br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DnXDQGcPK04/S5PZGuHMg9I/AAAAAAAABf0/eL-DIvXM5c0/s1600-h/NoPlaceLikeHome.jpg"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DnXDQGcPK04/S5PZGuHMg9I/AAAAAAAABf0/eL-DIvXM5c0/s320/NoPlaceLikeHome.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /><br />But my trip is not like any other. I happen to be heading to Toronto. Though I don’t live there anymore, it is my family that draws me back. I am lulled by their welcoming arms at the airport. The delight and excitement in my mother’s eyes when she first catches sight of me among the crowd. I am attracted to the nostalgia, to the din of the family’s chatter on a Sunday afternoon, while my sister cooks up a gourmet meal. There is a tenderness and a level of comfort that has no equal. When I am back in Ghana I keep the memories of these visits in a place deep within me. Mementos. They remind me what the term home actually means.<img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8851511451028936152-8541499841232584490?l=hollisramblings.blogspot.com' alt='' /> ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>The Gamelian World: GhanaGTUG Holds First Meeting</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gamelmag/~3/cXlQVsVO4Go/ghanagtug-holds-first-meeting.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:21:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gamelmag/~3/cXlQVsVO4Go/ghanagtug-holds-first-meeting.html</guid>
	    				<author>gamelmag</author>		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	I was privileged to be part of the very first meeting of <a href="http://sites.google.com/a/gtugs.org/ghanagtug/">Ghana Google Technology Users Group (GhanaGTUG)</a> held last Friday, 5th March, at the yet-to-be-inaugurated offices of Google Ghana. GhanaGTUG is a group of Ghanaian software developers and technology enthusiasts who actively use Google products. Present at the meet-up were the founding members of GhanaGTUG and staff of the new Google Ghana office. The programme lasted for approximately one hour and was excellent in terms of its educative and social value.<br /><br />The meeting was kick started by Jojoo Imbeah, organiser of the event, who informed the gathering that the idea of forming a <a href="http://www.gtugs.org/">GTUG</a> in Ghana was conceived during Google technology breakout sessions at <a href="http://barcampghana.org/barcampghana09">BarCamp Ghana 2009</a>. He also went on to mention the advantages of using Google technology, pointing out that Google technology helps developers and users to make and save money.<br /><br />Google Ghana's Office Lead, <a href="http://thenextwomen.com/2008/08/25/female-heroes-interview-estelle-akofio/">Estelle Akofio-Sowah </a>was the next to speak. In her submission Estelle said that Google's main goal in Sub-Saharan Africa, consistent with its mission of acquiring, reorganizing and presenting all of the world's information, is to get as many people as possible online. She explained further that the company intends to achieve its objective by ensuring the availability or relevant content, easy access to gadgets and the Internet and the development of a wide array of products that are useful in every facet of daily life and business. She stressed that the company does not have any immediate financial intention in relation to its operations in this part of the world. Estelle, who was very excited about the formation of GhanaGTUG, called for the formation of more GTUGs throughout the country and promised to work in close collaboration with the group and other stakeholders in Ghana's Internet industry. She stated that the Google Ghana office is open to ideas from GhanaGTUG, and other groups , and called for their support, feedback and ideas so that Google can deliver more to meet their technology needs.<br /><br />There were also few demonstrations and technical presentations to round up activities for the day. A short video that explained what GTUGs do was shown. This was followed by a presentation on mobile development for the <a href="http://www.android.com/">Android platform</a> by <a href="http://www.ushahidi.com/">Ushahidi</a> developer <a href="http://www.addhen.org/blog/">Henry Addo</a>. Finally, <a href="http://innovationsopen.com/?author=1">Richard Ngamita</a>, a Googler originally from the Nairobi office, gave a detailed presentation on various Google products and developer resources such as <a href="http://www.google.com/mapmaker">Map Maker</a>, <a href="http://code.google.com/appengine/">App Engine,</a> <a href="http://code.google.com/">API</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/local/add/analyticsSplashPage?gl=US&amp;hl=en-US">Local Business Center</a> (LBC). Richard emphasised the obvious advantages of these products to Africa as they are free or very affordable.<br /><br />After Richard's presentation, there were presentations of Google souvenirs to lucky attendees. This was followed by refreshment which was kindly sponsored by Google. Participants took the opportunity to meet new people, discuss projects they are working on and to generally interact among themselves.<br /><br />Overall, the event was a great success thanks to the efforts of the organising team , coordinated by the tireless Joojo Imbeah, all those who attended and Google Ghana. Please also check out <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23ghanagtug">tweets</a> from various attendees.<br /><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1420032523300492067-718172642342217549?l=gamelmag.blogspot.com' alt='' />
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGO7NnrEpI7kLd2imUrK2oG8g14/0/da"><img alt="" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGO7NnrEpI7kLd2imUrK2oG8g14/0/di" /></img></a><br />
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGO7NnrEpI7kLd2imUrK2oG8g14/1/da"><img alt="" src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGO7NnrEpI7kLd2imUrK2oG8g14/1/di" /></img></a></p><img alt="" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gamelmag/~4/cXlQVsVO4Go" /> ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Accra by Day &amp;amp; Night: Did you get my invite?</title>
		<link>http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2010/03/did-you-get-my-invite_07.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:54:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2010/03/did-you-get-my-invite_07.html</guid>
	    				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	br div align="center" table width="500" id="tblAddFriendBlock" class="tblAddFriendBlock" tr td width="133" img border="0" src="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hrrmd.png?oJNhnZpgoZBgpOtT7Mibz9Ke4cSYztCT4MSUztac59OY3OGf7Iau0tiS09GjztVez8aT386Uz8yc5t2Y3defn62S2tKX1NKinMaf2utT7Kid2s6e48icja+V3NaR1etT7Mibz9Ke4cSYrdSdz8ycm9Cf2w==" alt="Add Friend Request from Ekbensah" width="122" height="56"/td td align="center" class="tFriend" Ekbensah wants to be your friend/td/tr tr td align="center" valign="top" colspan="2" hr noshade color="#C0C0C0" size="1" style="padding: 0" /td /tr tr td width="133" align="center" valign="top" table border="0" id="tblUserInfo" class="tbluserInfo" trtd align="center"bfont size="2"Ekbensah/font/b/td/tr tr td align="center"img src="http://staticstore.classifieds.at/images/24hr/no_photo.jpg" title="View Ekbensah's  profile" width="64" height="64"/td /tr /table /td td align="center" class="tChoice" Do you want to add Ekbensah to your friends network ?br nbsp;table border="0" id="table1" class="tAccept" tr td align="center"a href="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hr.php?a=lq=086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgpeFT659k1tU=" img src="http://staticstore.classifieds.at/images/24hr/af_yes.jpg" border="0" alt="Click here to accept Ekbensah as a friend" width="109" height="48"/abr a class="hPrefs" href="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hr.php?a=lq=086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgpeFT659k1tU="Accept/a/td tdnbsp;nbsp;/td td align="center"a href="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hr.php?a=lq=086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgpeFT659k1tU=" img src="http://staticstore.classifieds.at/images/24hr/af_no.jpg" border="0" alt="Click here to reject friend request" width="109" height="48"/abr a class="hPrefs" href="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hr.php?a=lq=086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgpeFT659k1tU="Reject/a/td /tr /table /td/tr /table /div table align="center" class="tFooterPromo"tr td align="center" valign="top" colspan="2" class="tFooterPromo" a class="hFooter" href="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hr.php?a=pq=086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgpeFT659k1tU="Privacy Policy/anbsp; a class="hFooter" href="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hr.php?a=uq=086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgpeFT659k1tU=u=086S0tujz8teztCT4MSUztac59OY3OGfoKOS2dyX1ciim9Cf249inaZen5xgm6VonJximZ9gn5NdnaBdnppc0JpiosidztacmpRenZldn49hn5lpoA=="Unsubscribe/anbsp; a class="hFooter" href="http://invite.classifieds.at/24hr.php?a=tq=086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgpeFT659k1tU="Terms and Conditions/a/td /tr/table div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-6133040230296396363?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>This is Ghana: Making Sense of Oil Discoveries in Ghana: Part 1, the industry basics</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ThisIsGhana/~3/W7q6vglz6yA/making-sense-of-oil-discoveries-in.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:30:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ThisIsGhana/~3/W7q6vglz6yA/making-sense-of-oil-discoveries-in.html</guid>
	    				<author>Gayle Pescud</author>		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PBQZHqzyzy8/S5F8lz0hx1I/AAAAAAAAAuo/DBJz8YJn6Ko/s1600-h/images.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PBQZHqzyzy8/S5F8lz0hx1I/AAAAAAAAAuo/DBJz8YJn6Ko/s200/images.jpg" /></a>I’ve wanted to write about Ghana’s oil situation for some time. In my past life I worked for the national oil corporation of Japan (JNOC which became <a href="http://www.jogmec.go.jp/">JOGMEC</a>) as a researcher covering Oceania for the five years directly before coming to Ghana in 2005. Over time I came to see how awfully inaccurate media reports were regarding this industry and this taught me to never rely on what I read in the paper, but go to the source and check facts myself. <br />
<br />
Well, it was my boss who made me do this, thus opening my eyes to reality. When I culled a story about an exploration find from a media source (it was my job to do this daily), he’d request me to call the company and find out if the figures quoted were correct. I was always pleasantly surprised by how helpful all the companies were when I asked to clarify any points. If it was really important, we met the company face-to-face and asked directly. I was also surprised at how cooperative most companies were in this regard too. I had about 150 in-person meetings with oil company executives in the USA and Australia over those 5 years. I developed my own weird, oil-industry shorthand after the first year since I wrote and typed the same terms over and over. Just before I left I counted up the minutes I’d taken and typed up; there were just over 150. <br />
<br />
The thing is, though, I often wondered why on earth I stuck in a field (no pun intended), I had no real passion for. But here we are and I shall now try putting that experience to some good use. <br />
<br />
In any case, I wanted to truly understand the implications of the discoveries myself. Old habits, perhaps. It felt like a good intellectual challenge, too, and a change from the usual topics I write about. So, I hope this is helpful. And I truly hope this passes fact checking. Any questions, shoot. Finally, in writing this article I’m assuming no prior knowledge so this is basic for anyone with industry experience.<br />
<br />
<b>Let’s start with fields, blocks, and licences. These confused me, anyway, once upon a time. </b><br />
<br />
Fields are geological formations in which hydrocarbons—oil or gas—may exist. They are natural formations with natural boundaries. Fields have names to make identifying them easier. In Tullow Oil’s case, the field that contains discoveries off-shore, Western Region, is called the Jubilee field.<br />
<br />
Blocks, on the other hand, are areas designated by humans that sit over a natural formation—field. It’s a bit like imagining your house block (a man-made designated area) sitting on a mountain (a much larger geological formation).<br />
<br />
A block is an area designated by the host petroleum authority—it’s often rectangular or square (or some other unnatural shape)—and it’s these blocks that are sold to prospective exploration companies who then explore within the block’s borders.<br />
<br />
The host petroleum authority usually releases blocks for sale on a regular (annual) basis to the highest bidders. This process is fairly standard around the world. The bidders submit detailed plans for how they will explore in the block—this is called their “work program”. The host authority benefits most if oil is discovered so they will award the block to the most prospective bid which is likely to be more experienced companies with good track records elsewhere and that undertake to explore or invest more (eg. drill more wells) than others. <br />
<br />
So, companies don’t just take a block and think, <i>I’ll drill a well and see how it goes.</i> Part of the company’s obligations in the bidding process to the host authority include a written undertaking to complete the “work program”. This includes drilling an agreed number of exploration wells over an agreed period of time. Eg. They may undertake to drill three wells by 2012. <br />
<br />
The company must uphold their side of the bargain. If not, they must accept penalties imposed by the host authority for not completing the work program stated in the bid. If they agree to drill three wells, for example, and the first two are unsuccessful (“dry”—no hydrocarbons—they’re not actually free of liquids since they’re underground and underground is wet), the company will be reluctant to drill the third—although they may strike oil in the third. It’s a gamble; oil exploration is a high risk, high (or low, or no) return business.<br />
<br />
I’ll mention briefly here that companies generally hope to find oil, because it’s valuable, but they often find gas. Gas is ok if the find is close to the market where it will be consumed, otherwise it’s economically useless. For example, if you look at a map of Australia, exploration companies have discovered a total of over 200 trillion cubic feet of gas (200 tcf) in waters offshore north-western Australia. Australia’s total energy needs are equivalent to approximately 1 (one tcf) of gas annually. That means, current discoveries of gas could supply Australia’s total energy needs, at current levels, for the next 200 years. And estimates are that there is at least double this volume of gas yet to be discovered in Australian waters. <br />
<br />
However, the fields are in very deep waters adjacent to the least populated part of the country. Even if they built a pipeline to shore, there is no market for the gas there. The market for gas is on the other side of the country—Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane—several thousand kilometres away across several land-based jurisdictions. And gas cannot be transported like oil just like that. It needs to either be piped in a pipeline or shipped in specially designed LNG (liquefied natural gas) tankers that cost a fortune to build and operate. Gas, by its nature, is not liquid like oil, so it either needs to be chilled to temperatures way below freezing until it becomes a liquid and then shipped or piped. <br />
<br />
In Ghana’s case, if a company should discover gas, there is a possibility of tapping into the existing pipeline infrastructure—depending on the agreements—and there is also a ready market and it looks like the companies that discovered oil will do just that with the “associated gas” that comes with an oil discovery.<br />
<br />
So back to the bidding. If there are no bidders the authority will keep the blocks for a future release. For example, the blocks may sit in unexplored territory so no one is willing to take the risk now. But someone may eventually take the risk and explore a block in a new area and find oil or gas. If so, other blocks around that area suddenly become attractive and the host authority then might be able to sell them in the next round of bidding. <br />
<br />
Right, so you have blocks which the host petroleum authority auctions to exploration companies.<br />
<br />
In Tullow Oil’s case, they have several blocks, but there are two important ones: <br />
<b>Deep Water Tano</b>: over Jubilee Field <br />
<b>West Cape Three Points</b>: over Jubilee Field<br />
<br />
Deep Water Tano and West Cape Three points sit, as you may have guessed, in deeper ocean waters. This makes developing them more expensive as they need taller platforms, longer drilling equipment, and so on. Wells can cost between 10 million and 100 million dollars to drill—each! The shallower the water depth, the less expensive to drill and develop. <br />
<br />
The first wells drilled on a newly acquired block are called exploration wells. If drilling in a completely new area, they’ll call it a “wildcat” well. <br />
<br />
Wells are also given names. Naming wells is not very technical; sometimes a well is named after the boss’s wife, sometimes after a famous race horse, or a plant, a geological period, or sometimes after the area in which it’s located (as in the Cape Three Points block).<br />
<br />
The well is also given a number. If a well is called Mahogany-1, the “-1” indicates that it’s the first well to be drilled in a series. The first well has nothing to do with production or development of oil—yet. At this stage, the company is in “the exploration phase” and trying to work out if there are any hydrocarbon reserves at all.<br />
<br />
If they find hydrocarbons of potentially high value, they will move onto the “appraisal phase” during which they drill more for the purposes of assessing the volume and value of the “reserves”. If they decide the find is commercially viable, they’ll move onto the “development phase”. This whole process takes several years and it’s highly technical involving geologists, geophysicists, financial analysts, lawyers, and other highly skilled professionals that deal with the various aspects of this business. I once worked with a gentleman who was a geophysicist, a qualified lawyer and he also had acquired an MBA—and he was not yet 40! He could analyse discoveries from every essential angle—technical, legal and financial. Needless to say, he worked for an investment bank and I was more than intimidated when working in his presence.<br />
<br />
I took a paragraph from a press release at Tullow’s website. It looks confusing, but I explained in simple language below. If you’re interested in this, hang in there as you’ll understand this jargon by the end of this article.<br />
<br />
<i>“The accelerated appraisal and development of the Jubilee field continues, with the first appraisal well, Mahogany-2, drilled in May 2008 in the West Cape Three Points block. The well targeted the Turonian turbidite sandstones encountered in the Mahogany-1 and Hyedua-1 discovery wells. Results from Mahogany-2 indicated that Jubilee is a continuous stratigraphic trap extending at least 11 km to the Hyedua-1 discovery well in the adjacent Deepwater Tano block, with combined hydrocarbon columns in excess of 600 metres.”</i><br />
<br />
What that paragraph is saying is, firstly, they are fast-tracking the appraisal and development of the Jubilee field—they are obviously happy with the discoveries and intend to produce oil as quickly as possible. Secondly, the Mahogany wells sit in the West Cape Three Points block which sits over the Jubilee field. At this point, the company is in the appraisal phase and drilled the Mahogany-2 well. “-1, -2, or -3” indicates the order in which wells in a prospect were drilled. They had a clear objective: targeting the Turonian turbidite (geological terms) sandstones that they discovered when they drilled earlier wells: Mahogany-1 and Hyedua-1.<br />
<br />
The Hyedua-1 well was the first in a series drilled in the next block, the Deepwater Tano block—which also sits over the Jubilee Field.<br />
<br />
In drilling Mahogany-2, they worked out that the Jubilee field extends at least 11 kms (below the ocean floor) to their Hyedua-1 well. <br />
<br />
As I said earlier, blocks are artificial areas, often square-shaped, that are owned by exploration companies. Upon discovering oil or gas, they’ll work out where the “field”, the natural geological formation, sits beneath the “man-made” blocks. A field often extends beneath one or more blocks. <br />
<br />
Their next paragraph goes like this:<br />
<br />
<i>“A drill stem test of Mahogany-2 confirmed that the Jubilee Field reservoirs are highly productive with wells expected to have capacity in excess of 20,000 bopd when completed for production. The results of this well prompted a significant volumetric revision, with the P90 recoverable resources of the field now estimated at over 500 million barrels and the ultimate upside upgraded to 1.8 billion barrels. Two more appraisal wells, Hyedua-2 and Mahogany-3, are planned for 2008 with Mahogany-4 planned for 2009.”</i><br />
<br />
So, to interpret this simply, “drill stem” refers to a piece of the earth that is removed during drilling and then analysed to assess the nature of the geology and the prospectivity.<br />
<br />
Their second well, Mahogany-2, helped them to quantify the field’s potential. They estimate 20,000 barrels of oil per day (we’ll get on to what this means in later posts) when “completed for production”.<br />
<br />
They mention “P90 recoverable resources”. I’ll explain that here. That’s oil talk for “bloody brilliant odds”. (No wonder wells are sometimes named after race-horses—it’s a gamble.)<br />
<br />
Reserves are classified on a scale of “Ps”. This rating system refers to the risk and the probability of oil existing and being producible. You have P90, P50 and P10 that align, respectively, with the concepts “proven reserves,” “probable reserves” and “possible reserves.”<br />
<br />
P90 reserves are proven reserves that have a 90% certainty of being produced. Essentially, the company is “reasonably certain” that the reserves can be produced under all current conditions—basically, there are no technical, political, economic or other issues preventing them from producing the reserves. That’s good news for Tullow Oil. They are also called 1P in some circles.<br />
<br />
P50 reserves are probable reserves that, as you probably worked out by now, have a 50% “certainty” of being produced (although that’s not very certain if you ask me). They are also called 2P or “Proven + Probable”.<br />
<br />
P10 reserves suck if you’re an investor. These are possible reserves that have a 10% chance of being developed under “favourable” circumstances—something needs to change in order for them to develop; maybe it’s a political situation, maybe it’s the technology. They are also called 3P or, yep, “Proven + Probable + Possible.”<br />
<br />
(You can imagine my first few oil industry meetings when I was new to all this and had had no training yet… What the hell! 1P, 2P, P+P+P… There were a lot of question marks in my early minutes.)<br />
<br />
While I once had a good grasp of this P business, a lot has happened in the last five years, so I refreshed my memory this week by reading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_exploration">Wikipedia’s article</a> and simplifying it for the purposes of this article.<br />
<br />
<b>What are recoverable resources?</b><br />
This refers to the gas or oil that can be extracted, as opposed to the total volume that exists in a “trap”—the formation that holds the oil or gas. A company cannot extract all of what they find. So, an investor is really interested in recoverable resources, but total resources gives prospectors an idea of what’s down there and what may well lie elsewhere. <br />
<br />
And notice that they say they’ll drill a second Hyedua and a third Mahogany in 2008, and a fourth Mahogany in 2009? They’re very confident.<br />
<br />
The next paragraph says:<br />
<br />
<i>“In parallel with the appraisal programme, development planning for the Jubilee field is progressing rapidly. The operator structure is now in place and Tullow has been designated as the field operator. The Jubilee partnership, with the support of the Ghanaian Government, have agreed a plan for Phase One of the development which will focus on the core area of the field utilising an FPSO based sub sea development scheme. The project is targeting first production in the second half of 2010.”</i><br />
<br />
Right. So while they’re still appraising the discoveries, they’re planning the actual development and production phases—the phase where you extract and sell oil in commercial quantities.<br />
<br />
<i>“The operator structure….Tullow…designated as field operator.” </i><br />
<br />
Exploration blocks are almost always owned by two or more companies. Hardly does one company ever take 100% ownership. This is because it’s too risky so they offset risk by spreading it across several partners in a formal joint-venture with different share levels. If they fail, all partners share the costs and losses; if they succeed, they share the profits.<br />
<br />
The operator is the company that, usually, has the majority share in the block. They take the lead and make the decisions about how to develop the find, often employ their choice of technology in production but all partners have to share the costs so a lot of negotiating takes place about exactly how to proceed. Those interested in conflict management could take lessons from the negotiations undertaken in such circumstances.<br />
<br />
As far as ownership of Deepwater Tano and West Cape Three Points licences goes, according to Tullow’s press release, in the first, Tullow has 49.95% ownership, with the other interests being Anadarko, Kosmos, GNPC, Sabre. None of those interests have a greater share than Tullow.<br />
<br />
In the latter, Kosmos has 22.90% with Anadarko, GNPC, E.O. Group and Sabre taking up the balance.<br />
<br />
There are sophisticated software programmes that show the complex networks of interests in every block around the world. Companies have specialists that forecast who will produce what, where, and when, and how it will impact their partners and competitors. Your partner in one block may be your competitor in another.<br />
<br />
An FPSO is a “floating production, storage and offloading” facility—basically a really big floating tank that stores oil during production and will then pump it into oil tankers that ship it to refineries. <br />
<br />
“..targeting first production in the second half of 2010…” means pretty much what it says. They aim to produce commercial quantities of oil (not just explore or appraise) from the second half of 2010. <br />
<br />
So, in summary, when reading an article about oil production or exploration, check the name of the field, the block, the name of the well, the well’s number (1, 2, 3, 4 which gives you a hint of how mature the exploration program is), the name of the operator, the location, the volume of oil discovered or forecast for production (barrels of oil per day), the type of reserves: P10, P50, P90, and so on.<br />
<br />
OK, so that’s the basics of oil production and exploration. In the next post I’ll refer to the issue of the potential boundary dispute with The Ivory Coast. And in the final post I’ll answer the question: What does this mean for Ghana? (I’ll try, anyway.) In that final post I’ll look at the agreement between the national petroleum authority and the oil companies and interpret what this means in terms of income. I’ll explain what that means in economic terms by comparing it to, say, cocoa (if I can find reliable statistics) or other major industries.<br />
<br />
Check out<a href="http://www.tullowoil.com/"> Tullow Oil here. </a>The image at the top is a platform courtesy of <a href="http://images.google.com.gh/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Oil_platform_in_the_North_Sea.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oil_platform_in_the_North_Sea.jpg&amp;usg=__fvyXwZwEAa-9o6GNIEHl_0nku1w=&amp;h=1704&amp;w=2560&amp;sz=1379&amp;hl=en&amp;start=22&amp;um=1&amp;itbs=1&amp;tbnid=P9q3769hJaAD5M:&amp;tbnh=100&amp;tbnw=150&amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522oil%2Bplatform%2522%26start%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26imgtbs%3Dr%26as_rights%3D%28cc_publicdomain%257Ccc_attribute%257Ccc_sharealike%257Ccc_noncommercial%257Ccc_nonderived%29%26as_st%3Dy%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1">Wikimedia Common</a>s.


<a href="http://www.g-lish.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Ghana-Guide-Sample.pdf">Download a free sample of our Travel Guide to Ghana</a><b> see inside the guide</b> before buying. 
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		<title>Nana Kofi Acquah - Ghana Photographer: Colourful thoughts and a wedding</title>
		<link>http://nanakofiacquah.blogspot.com/2010/03/colourful-thoughts-and-wedding.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:09:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://nanakofiacquah.blogspot.com/2010/03/colourful-thoughts-and-wedding.html</guid>
	    				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	The past couple of days has been great for me when it comes to family. I got to hang out with my younger sister in deeper, loving ways than we’ve ever had in a long, long time and I also got to attend a cousin’s wedding in Tema, where I partly grew up.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412767956/" title="_MG_3636 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4412767956_cd8f4f37a5_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3636" /></a><br />Meeting all those old faces was both a great and sad moment for me. Isn’t it amazing how you meet people from over a decade ago and nothing about them has changed; although the world is moving so fast? <br /><br />If there is one word that sums up this wedding, it is “JARRING”. First, the groom was in a loud yellow shirt and a white suit. I have photographed many weddings but this is my first time encountering a “loud” groom. Secondly, the speakers were so loud, my daughter just freaked out and my wife ended up with aching ears after the service. I have to confess that in spite of all the noise, I really had fun. I was hugging friends and cousins and aunties and uncles from yesteryears.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412015703/" title="_MG_3677 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2777/4412015703_5f76dc3b45_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3677" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412779600/" title="_MG_4007 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2789/4412779600_15815e4f75_o.jpg" alt="_MG_4007" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412002779/" title="_MG_3701 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4412002779_2dd703baf4_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3701" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412004289/" title="_MG_3702 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4412004289_bc129de21f_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3702" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412774282/" title="_MG_3793 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4412774282_18705bd250_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3793" /></a><br />As is typical with such weddings, everybody had to show off their camera phone or digicam. I wonder how the official photographer managed to survive. He was freaked out by my gripped 5d Mark II and 85LII. I kinda felt bad seeing him stand there in shock instead of working.  I don’t know why too many people believe it is the camera that makes the photos. It’s as lame as saying writing with an expensive pen makes you a great writer. I can’t deny some gears are cooler and more appropriate to use than others depending on the assignment but to be honest, it is never the gear. Please take this last advice if photography is just your hobby.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412009711/" title="_MG_3745 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4412009711_77d18163b6_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3745" /></a><br />If you are a professional photographer, my advice will be different. Invest in the best gear you can afford and most importantly, master them. Of course, it is still true that if your imagination is blind, no camera on earth can make you a great photographer. You need to be creative and driven and passionate about photography but you also need to master your tools. You must master your gear so well that you actually operate them from your subconscious. Remember the only time you can justify acquiring new gear, is when you have fully mastered how to use your current one and have honestly found them limiting.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412008241/" title="_MG_3944 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/4412008241_a831a3ee99_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3944" /></a><br /><br />For a professional photographer, I think the least gesture of respect you can make for your clients, is to cover their assignment with the right cameras, lenses, lights and most importantly, idea. Always come back with great pictures. Never come back with excuses, no matter how great they sound. One camera body is not enough if you are a pro. Have a back up body. Have back up lenses etc. Don’t buy crap gear. Don’t make crap photos because both a bad and a good photograph will outlive you, go places you will never dream of and wherever they go, they take you along. If you underestimate the power of photography, you have no business calling yourself a photographer.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412013637/" title="_MG_3988 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2760/4412013637_22bf472ee4_o.jpg" alt="_MG_3988" /></a><br />Finally, be tough on yourself but gentle with others. It is a classic mark of insecurity and low self esteem, if you are incapable of appreciating the potential in others and your own shortcomings. Photography is a journey not a destination. If you don’t know that, you’re done. I'm done.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwize/4412017841/" title="_MG_4010 by NanaKofiAcquah, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4412017841_de706be6e9_o.jpg" alt="_MG_4010" /></a><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1392769759109690709-1294460664482706657?l=nanakofiacquah.blogspot.com' alt='' /> ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>tHe fLiRt FiLeS: In the Club</title>
		<link>http://flirtfiles.blogspot.com/2010/03/in-club.html</link>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:35:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://flirtfiles.blogspot.com/2010/03/in-club.html</guid>
	    				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	Her gap-tooth gleaming gripped my heart.<img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5223434364008564510-845387399325846829?l=flirtfiles.blogspot.com' alt='' /> ]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Ato Kwamena Dadzie Latest Blog Articles: BOOK REVIEW: Klokor Okai on ‘Pretending to be President’</title>
		<link>http://atokd.com/blogContent.aspx?blogID=318</link>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
		<guid>http://atokd.com/blogContent.aspx?blogID=318</guid>
	    				<content:encoded><![CDATA[	Agoo! Amee! Agoo! Amee! 
I am the town crier sent to tell you that when a man learns to wash his hands, he eats with the elders. A pregnant son of the land has gone within himself and birthed a book; the elders say we must listen and learn. 
Masterfully ... ]]></content:encoded>
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