Citi Business News has learnt that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) will by the beginning of next year begin 
exploration work on the Volta Basin.
The basin is believed to have a huge oil potential.
Industry players say oil deposits were first discovered in the Volta Basin as far back as 1960.
GNPC, the state-owned oil exploration and production company will start the drilling of six slim holes at very strategic locations within the basin.
The Volta Basin is a huge onshore basin that stretches from the Volta Region to some parts of the Northern Region, with a total land area of 103,600 square kilometers.
According to the GNPC it has been given board approval as the sole entity to drill for oil in the area and the GNPC, says it will spend $ 40m to begin exploration in the Volta Basin.
The Geological Survey Department (GSD), with the support of the European Union (EU) had already conducted a gravity survey in the Volta Basin, under the mining sector support program in 2008, against the background of an earlier 50 kilometre seismic survey, carried out by a Soviet Survey Geological Team in the Tamale area as well, that encountered traces of hydrocarbons.
The Acting head of Corporate Affairs at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation Eric Pwadura says GNPC has already sent a team to engage the communities along the Volta basin educating them on the effects and benefits of the project.
“We have our engineers who are ready to go and begin work by the close of the year or early next year. We’ve gone through the procurement process and we are just collecting samples at this stage because we need to analysis what is down there.”
The Acting head of Corporate Affairs at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation says the project is currently being handled by GNPC only.
