Eni and its partners have been awarded rights to Block WB03, located in the medium deep waters of the prolific Tano Basin, offshore Ghana, the Italian supermajor announced of Wednesday.

Eni said it will be the operator of the license, and its joint venture partners will include Dutch energy company Vitol, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and a local registered company that will be identified during the phase of contract finalization.

The contract award, which remains subject to approval from the authorities, comes as an outcome of Ghana’s first international competitive bid round, in which five blocks have been put on offer in water depths ranging from 100 meters to 4,400 meters.

In Ghana’s Tano Basin, Eni owns rights to the development areas of Sankofa and Gye Nyame as well as to the exploration and production area of CTP-Block 4. The new Block WB03 is located approximately 50 kilometers southeast from the John Agyekum Kufuor (JAK) floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) that is currently producing oil and gas from the Sankofa Field. The proximity of these infrastructures will became synergic in case of new discoveries in Block 3, Eni said.

Eni counts Ghana among the key countries for its growth. The company currently produces about 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the West African country.