$ 95 million spent between 2013 and 2016 without drilling a single oil well – Deputy Minister

News from Sunday, April 28, 2019

Source: Ghananewsagency.org

2019-04-28

Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of Petroleum, said that a total of 95 million US dollars had been spent between 2013 and 2016 for drilling oil wells, but that None resulted in the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities.

He said 13 oil contracts had been signed between the previous government and oil investors, worth US $ 880 million for exploration work.

The deputy minister said that this is why the ruling government, the ruling party, the new patriotic party, decided to change its strategy in order to pursue aggressive explorations to increase oil and gas reserves. the country's production before the Jubilee oil field is exhausted.

Dr. Adam made this revelation at a press conference in Accra to address some of the concerns expressed by IMANI Africa, a political think tank, about alleged omissions and / or commissions from the government about of the oil deal reached between the government and Aker Energy. .

"All the oil discoveries in Ghana were oil contracts signed under President JA Kufuor's government and those signed from 2013 to 2016, which represents the largest number of oil contracts signed by the Government of Ghana. single well was drilled, "he said.

This, he said, would increase the country's oil production revenues in order to accelerate the development of the country's infrastructure and improve the well-being of the population.

The deputy minister said the country held between 55 and 60 percent of oil in the DWT / CTP oil bloc, as agreed in the oil deal with Aker Energy.

On Thursday, April 25th, IMANI Africa, a policy think tank, told a program of advocacy concerns over various omissions and / or government commissions regarding Aker Energy's development plan covering the Deepwater Tano / Contract Area Cape Three Points (DWT / CTP).

Responding to the reasons why the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) failed to acquire the 10% stake in the DWT / CTP block in 2015, Dr. Adam said that although funds have been allocated for this purpose, the GNPC management did not seize this opportunity. .

As a result, when Aker Energy acquired HESS's participation in the DTP / CTP, the country lost the opportunity to acquire the 10% stake.

Moreover, the GNPC management had used the funds provided for this purpose to secure the agreement with Karpower and other transactions, which were outside its mandate.

Mr. Adam called for investigations of the reasons that motivated the GNPC to use the funds for the 10% participation in the Karpower project guarantee.