UK Lends to GE for Ghana Contract

UK Export Finance, a government agency, said January 16 it will provide $400mn of support for a GE Oil & Gas contract with Ghana's Offshore Cape Three Points project (OCTP).

London-headquartered GE Oil & Gas is the contractor providing subsea production systems to the Eni-operated $7.9bn OCTP development of oil and gas fields 60 km offshore western Ghana. US giant GE’s contract is worth $850mn and will support jobs in the Aberdeen and Bristol areas of the UK.

UKEF’s $400mn support to OCTP will include a loan under its Direct Lending Facility. It will be UKEF’s first direct loan for a project in Africa. Following first gas in 2018, the new fields are expected to continuously feed Ghana’s gas-fired power plants for more than 20 years. 

Lorenzo Simonelli, current president & CEO of GE Oil & Gas, would head the 'New' Baker Hughes (Photo credit: GE)

GE Oil & Gas president Lorenzo Simonelli said: “Export credit agency financing is an important source of support for our customers, and the MoU signed with UKEF in 2015 has helped to support this success.” GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes announced plans to merge last October.

UKEF support comes as part of a larger $1.35bn financing package, predominantly by World Bank affiliates. GE's rival Siemens is also providing compressors to OCTP's onshore gas receiving facility.

Ghana's newly-elected president last week named his energy minister-designate.

Mark Smedley