Ghana, Chevron and Shell Sign Preliminary Agreement for South Deepwater Tano Block
The Ghanaian government has entered into a deal with Shell Overseas Holdings and Chevron SubSaharan Africa Ventures for exploration and production rights over the South Deepwater Tano block.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which covers exploration and production rights over the South Deepwater Tano block, was signed at the opening of Africa Oil Week 2026 in Accra. The 3,482 sq km block sits in the deepto-ultra-deepwater Tano Basin off Ghana’s Western region, in water depths approaching 3.5 kilometres.
AGM Petroleum drilled the Nyankom-1X well there in 2019, discovering oil across two reservoirs, before relinquishing its interest in 2023. The block’s hydrocarbon potential is now estimated at more than 3 billion barrels. Under the MoU, Shell, Chevron, the Ghana National P e t r o l e u m Corporation (GNPC) and Explorco will appraise the existing discovery and pursue the block’s wider exploration potential.
The Ghanaian Energy Minister, John Abdulai Jinapor referenced the signing in his address to the conference, telling delegates that “today we are going to sign another milestone agreement to advance our oil and gas sector.” Equity splits between the four parties and a work programme were not disclosed at the signing.
