20100920
reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Ghana is making good progress in talks with Chinese investors interested in buying a stake in the West African nation's oil assets, its deputy energy minister said on Monday.

Ghana aims to produce its first barrel of oil this year but developments have often been overshadowed by talk of disputes between state oil firm GNPC and foreign energy firms.

Last month U.S.-based Kosmos Energy cancelled an estimated $4 billion deal to sell its stakes in the giant Jubilee oilfield to ExxonMobil after months of resistance from GNPC, which made no secret of its own interest in the assets.

But Emmanuel Buah, Ghana's deputy energy minister said on Monday that the dispute has not deterred new investors and it was not opposed to future collaborations with new partners.

"If you see the amount of investors we've had this year, it tells you the story that Ghana is the investment centre of West Africa," Buah told Reuters at the sidelines of a economic growth conference in London.

"China has interest in Ghana and we welcome that...There are a lot of ongoing discussions and we've made a lot of progress with the Chinese."

Buah would not confirm which Chinese firms were interested or if any formal agreement had been reached.

Buah reiterated on Monday that Ghana was on course to become an oil-producing nation by the end of the year and output would quickly reach around 120,000 barrels per day (bpd).