UK's Tullow Oil eyes new Ghana offshore assets - CEO

ACCRA (Reuters) - Tullow Oil (TLW.L) is interested in new oil blocks off Ghana's coast as part of the British explorer's plans to consolidate its operations in the West African nation, Chief Executive Paul McDade said on Thursday.

Tullow is leading two operations offshore Ghana, including the country's flagship 100,000 barrel-per-day Jubilee field, which began commercial production in late 2010.

Ghana's energy ministry said this month it would award nine new upstream oil blocks for commercial exploration off its coast beginning this year.

"We as a company want to consolidate our presence in Ghana after our investments in Jubilee and TEN (Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme). We don't want to stop there but keep growing," McDade told reporters in Accra, where he was meeting investors.

"We'd like to go and look at the new licenses being opened, we'd look at them from a geological point of view and if we find them attractive, you'd find us bidding for them," he said.

Tullow has given up plans to reduce its stake in its TEN field which came on stream two years ago because the need for raising capital from the sale no longer existed, McDade said.

(Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Edmund Blair and Adrian Croft)