Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire maritime boundary dispute

Ghana’s quest for crude oil began in the 19th Century during the years of British colonisation. It is on record that a British oil company, Shell, found some crude oil in shallow waters of Ghana’s continental shelf and drilled and shipped it in barrels to the United Kingdom.

Since then, no significant petroleum reserves were found until 1971 when crude oil of appreciable commercial value was found at sea, 12 miles from the coast of Saltpond, in the Central Region of Ghana.

Those oil reserves yielded about 12,000 barrels of crude oil daily for the country.

Three months after Ghana celebrated its 50th independence anniversary or Golden Jubilee, on March 6, 2007, Ghana struck crude oil in significant commercial quantities, 70 kilometres off the coast of Cape Three Points in the Western Region, in June, 2007.

Works on the reserves, expected to yield between 800,000 and one billion barrels of oil for 20 years, began in earnest.

Commercial exploitat