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Springfield Group, the energy conglomerate led by Ghanaian businessman Kevin Okyere, is facing renewed scrutiny over outstanding offshore drilling debts as Stena Drilling Ltd. moves to protect its claims amid talks for a potential state takeover of one of Ghana’s most significant deepwater oil assets.
Stena Drilling, a unit of Sweden’s Stena AB, said it holds two London Court of International Arbitration awards against Springfield E&P Ltd. and Springfield Energy Ltd. for unpaid drilling services provided between September and November 2019. The work was carried out using the Stena Forth drilling unit, according to the contractor. Ghanaian courts have since recognized the arbitration awards and granted leave for their enforcement as local judgments.
Ghana considers WCTP2 stake acquisition
The disclosure comes as Ghana’s government weighs acquiring Springfield’s interest in the West Cape Three Points Block 2, or WCTP2, a deepwater block offshore the country’s western coast in the Tano Basin. Following the announcement, Stena Drilling said it formally wrote to the minister of energy and green transition, requesting that any state acquisition include provisions to settle Springfield’s outstanding obligations to the contractor.
“Stena Drilling is pleased to clarify its position regarding its engagement with the Ghanaian Government and the outstanding debt owed to Stena Drilling by Springfield for historic drilling rig services. Ghana is widely viewed as an attractive investment jurisdiction for international companies,” Stena Drilling CEO Erik Ronsberg said. He added that settling the debt would help preserve investor confidence as the government considers taking over the asset.
Springfield is in discussions to sell its WCTP2 stake to the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corp., a move that could reshape Ghana’s upstream sector and unlock value from a block that has remained stalled for years. The company is the first Ghanaian-owned operator to hold a majority interest in an oil and gas license, having built its presence across exploration, production, trading, storage and transport since its founding in 2008.
Springfield pushes forward despite legal pressure
WCTP2, awarded to Springfield in 2016, is estimated to contain more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil in place and about 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas. The block could be worth over $3 billion if fully developed. Springfield’s 2019 drilling led to the Afina light-oil discovery, though regulatory and unitization processes delayed progress. In October 2024, it hired Northern Ocean Ltd. using the Deepsea Bollsta rig, confirming a 65-meter oil column with 50 meters of net pay.
The group has also faced separate legal pressure. In July, trading firm Petraco Oil Co. SA lodged a complaint with Ghana’s Economic and Organized Crime Office over a $100 million facility agreement. Springfield has rejected the allegations, saying the dispute is contractual rather than criminal and insisting it remains compliant with Ghanaian law.
