Ghana will have a second oil rig nicknamed, ‘Millennium’, by December at the Jubilee Oil field at West Cape Three Points in the Western region. The rig will boost the Floating Production and Storage Offloading (FPSO) facility to be able to work effectively as the country explores its oil deposits.

Toni Aubynn, director of corporate affairs of Tullow Oil, said this at an interaction with the media at Takoradi. He said the management of Tullow Oil was working around the clock to ensure that the first oil is poured by December 2010. He said so far 90 percent of the works on the FPSO had been completed and the recent discovery of the Owo well with significant quantities of light, sweet and high quality oil and gas will further boost the country’s resources. The new well will be subjected to further tests to determine the total deposits and appropriate strategies for its exploration. Aubynn said Tullow Oil would continue to play its role by being sensitive to community concerns and would not compete with government over projects.

He said Tullow Oil and its Jubilee partners would assist six coastal districts in the Western region to develop a proper spatial plan. Aubynn said the lack of a proper spatial plan, if not addressed quickly, could affect the development of the nation and lead to unplanned and haphazard development. He said the beneficiary districts are Nzema East, Ahanta West, Jomoro, Shama Ahanta East, Shama and Ellembelle. Meanwhile, the Department for International Development (UKaid) has announced a release of two million pounds sterling (approximately GH¢4.5 million) grant to support the Ghana Population and Housing Census.

The provision of the funds is to support the Census Secretariat in the post-enumeration survey and dissemination of the exercise. UKaid’s new director for Western and Southern Africa, Jim Drummond, announced this when he interacted with census enumerators at Takoradi in the Western Region.

Dummond, who is on a three-day official visit to the country, said census is crucial to update information on social, demographic, economic and housing characteristic of a country’s population.