GNPC boss explains why oilfield shares were sold in 2019

In 2019, the government of Ghana approached Parliament to make changes to the agreements governing the country’s relations with key players in Aker.

The combined effect of these changes has led Ghana to relinquish its stakes in the two oil assets and significantly reduce its influence on how they are managed.

These government actions were at the behest of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

However, the same GNPC again addressed parliament, asking the House to approve a loan of $ 1.65 billion for the acquisition of shares in Ghana’s offshore fields.

IMANI Africa Vice President Bright Simons, reacting to the new development, said: “When the same GNPC comes back to inform the country of the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to buy back the same shares and the same involvement in the management that Ghana barely a year and one abandoned for half, we have the right to be outraged.

“Especially when the country is losing hundreds of millions of dollars due to previous declines, ”he added.

Reacting to CSO angst over the new development, GNPC CEO Dr KK Sarpong explained that it was necessary for the company to have sold its stake in Ghana’s oil fields in 2019.

According to him, at the time, the country did not have the funds to invest in the oil fields, and that the necessary step was to sell the shares to unload the country.

“The 24% was a commercial stake held by Explorco at the time. The question is, at that point, did we have the money to invest in it? We didn’t, ”he said.

He explained that even though they could have done what they are proposing to do now, at that time, they did not have the sense to do it.

“We never felt like we could – you see if the energy transition hadn’t been enhanced, I think no one before should have that sense. And especially when ExxonMobil decided to leave after making the discovery, they evaluated it and they thought it wasn’t – because of their expectation of risk – something that they were particularly interested in, so they wanted to leave. It was a clear signal, “he said.

He said the country still does not have the money to make the investment, but given the energy transition situation currently underway, the time has come for GNPC to take over Ghana’s oil fields; hence the need for the government to approve the loan.

“If I felt at that point that I had a feeling that there was a possibility that this could be done, I’m sure I might have gone to the government and said ‘wait a minute’, but you see that you also have to assess the strength to see what can be done.

“Now I’ve been running the institution for almost five years, I guess what I’m talking about. I am very convinced that this is the way forward for our country if we are truly prepared to take a larger share of these investments. It wasn’t Aker’s suggestion, ”he said.