Partners of Tweneboa, Enyenra, and Ntomme (TEN) project are expected to commence commercial production of crude oil from the fields in the second half of 2016.

The partners developing the fields had already drilled all of the 10 wells expected to be operational when the field starts pumping oil. Kosmos Energy, a major partner in the development of the fields, says there are no new drillings required for the start-up of oil production from the TEN projects.

Mr Kenneth Keag, Vice-President and Country Manager of Kosmos, in an exclusive interview with The Finder, said all 10 wells needed for the first phase of production have already been drilled and the activity that remains to be conducted on those wells are the installation of equipment.

He was reacting to the ruling by the special Chamber of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) which ordered the suspension of all new drilling activities in the fields.

Ghana filed for arbitration in a dispute with Ivory Coast over an oil-rich basin in the Atlantic.

Before this, 10 rounds of talks had failed to resolve the dispute over the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) block and several others which Ivory Coast says lie at least partly within its waters. It revived its claim after Ghana discovered oil in 2007.

Ivory Coast had asked the court to suspend all ongoing oil exploration and exploitation by Ghana, but the interim ruling did not go as far as that, saying doing so would risk "considerable financial loss to Ghana" and could possibly harm the marine environment.

The body, instead, told Ghana to "take all necessary steps to ensure that no new drilling takes place in the disputed area."

The maritime border between the two countries cuts through offshore oil fields that both nations are eager to exploit, but there are claims the boundary has not been properly demarcated.

The area in dispute is believed to hold the biggest hydrocarbon resources discovered in West Africa for the last decade.

Mr Keag said, “The wells for the first phase of development of TEN have been drilled and we are now into completion activities.

“No additional wells were planned. What we need to do is to bring the field to production, and then based on the assessment of the production capabilities that we see, we then make plans for future investments.”

He noted that as planned, the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is near completion and the fabrication of all equipment for sub-sea installation work is ongoing.

“Our plans for the installation of the sun sea equipment and for the sailing away of the FPSO from the shipyard to location on the field are proceeding as planned.”

He noted that the group considers the ruling of the ITLOS as fair and balanced ruling, taking consideration of all the aspects that have been raised by the parties to the ruling, but emphasised that the ruling has no impediment on the activities on the fields.

“Our interpretation of the ruling is such that we believe that there had been no impediment presented to the continuation of those activities,” he noted.

Kenneth Keag also said the partnership will continue to support the government by providing information on the activities on the TEN areas in terms of meeting the requirement of the court.

Part of the ITLOS ruling is for the continuous monitoring of activities of the disputed zone, and Kosmos says it is ready to help Ghana meet its obligations on the subject.

“We will fully corporate with government in supplying all information they require to meet that part of the ruling such that everything is fully transparently reported and available for the tribunal and the parties.”

Kosmos says the ruling will not affect the group’s planned $500 million investment in the country.