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The Saltpond Offshore Producing Company is to sink two new wells at a cost of 500 million dollars to increase production from the current 600 barrels to 2000 a day. Currently, only one of the company�s two wells is producing at full capacity with the other working at half its capacity due to technical problems. Mr. Emmanuel Ebo Sam, General Manager of the company, announced this at the Abange Festival of the chiefs and people of the Nyimfa Division of the Nkusukum Traditional Area at Saltpond, Lower Town. Mr. Sam pointed out that the Saltpond rig had placed Ghana on the map of oil producing countries for a long time and asserted that the current oil find in parts of the Western Region was the result of the activities of the rig, since oil explorers knew that the commodity did not exist in isolation. He said the company was in touch with some investors in America to invest in trapping gas which was going to waste in spite of the demand for additional power generation for the country. The General Manager said the company had decided to award scholarships to about 15 students from Saltpond, Ankaful and Abandze who obtained between aggregates 6 and 10 in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). He said the company would also assist some students to pursue Petro-Chemical Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to boost the petroleum industry. He stressed that the scholarship was the company�s social responsibility meant strictly for the people from the locality who pursue their education in the area. Mr. Sam debunked allegations that the company had been dodging the payment of royalties. He explained that since the company took over the management of the rig about seven years ago, it had been paying royalties to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and that it was the duty of the chiefs of the area to approach GNPC for their share. Mr. Sam, who took over as the General Manager about seven months ago, said the company would hold regular interactions with the people for them to know how the asset was faring. Nana Baah VII, Chief of Saltpond, Lower Town and Nyimfahene of the Nkusukum Traditional Area, was grateful to the manager for educating them about the company. He said, �since we have been kept in the dark for a long time, we thought the rig was dead.� Nana Baah urged chiefs in the area to enact bye-laws to enforce children�s education to enable them to benefit from the scholarship scheme.