Ghana is holding advanced negotiations to acquire Springfield Exploration and Production’s stake in the West Cape Three Points Block 2 (WCTP2), according to Joy News, in what officials describe as an effort to accelerate development of one of the country’s most valuable undeveloped offshore assets.

The block — located adjacent to Eni’s Sankofa field — is estimated to contain more than 1.5bn barrels of oil in place and about 1.2tcf of gas, based on Springfield’s published figures. Joy News reports that the asset could have a potential valuation of more than $3bn.

Springfield founder Kevin Okyere called the ongoing discussions positive, saying the company is fully engaged with the government. “Our position is straightforward: this asset must be advanced,” he said is quoted as saying, adding that Springfield is committed to a “decisive and constructive outcome” aligned with Ghana’s national interest.

Springfield became the first wholly Ghanaian-owned firm to drill in deepwater when it made the Afina discovery in 2019, which underpins the current negotiations. Progress on the block stalled amid a long-running unitisation dispute involving Eni’s (NYSE:E; BIT:ENI) Sankofa structure, which Ghanaian authorities sought to resolve through a directive to merge the fields — a process that later entered arbitration. Officials now say a state-led solution is intended to break the deadlock.

Under the proposed approach, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and its upstream arm GNPC Explorco would acquire Springfield’s stake, positioning the state to drive the next phase of appraisal and development. They added that international partners could be brought in later, but emphasised that no binding commitments have been made.

Officials said the acquisition, if finalised, would support Ghana’s strategy to arrest declining oil output, protect fiscal revenues and strengthen long-term energy security. Ghana’s crude production has fallen from around 200kbpd in 2019 to the 140–150kbpd range in recent years, according to Ministry of Energy data.

The talks remain ongoing, and officials said further updates would be communicated “in the near future.”