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In an exclusive interview with The Herald yesterday, Dr. KK Sarpong described it as "a group of lies," says IMANI Vice President Africa, Kofi Bentil, claiming that he and his family owned a company called Fueltrade Ghana Limited, one of the partners in the Deepwater Tano / Cape Three Points Petroleum Agreement (DWT / CTP), with a 2% stake.
The boss of the GNPC asked IMANI Africa to verify his facts before speaking and damaging his reputation. He revealed that he was talking with his lawyers to take action against the Policy Think Tank and to restore his reputation.
Dr. Sarpong also instructed The Herald to check with the Registrar General's office whether, along with his family, the owner of Fueltrade Ghana Limited, adding the Policy think tank, he would have served the public interest better by demonstrating due diligence before coming. talk about the $ 4.4 billion oil deal.
Aker Energy, is the operator of the field with more than 50% stake. It has recently submitted a US $ 4.4 billion development plan to the government for approval, allowing start-up of development and production activities.
Dr. Sarpong being the CEO of GNPC, another partner of the DWT / CTP with a 10% stake, Mr. Bentil at a press conference held in Accra yesterday, said that he was ethically bad for a company that he and his family owned were also a partner of the estate.
"It does not seem right. We publish it publicly because we want clarification. "We are not against Ghana's participation in our oil industry, but protecting public finances means avoiding such conflicts," he told the press conference.
"It's a zero sum game; what Ghana has, Aker does not have. So, while it's true that the company is negotiating with itself or that there are powers on both sides, I think that's a concern and that we need answers to this subject, "he added.
But Dr. Sarpong insisted that he was not badociated with any company with the owner of Fueltrade. However, his closest connection to Fueltrade Limited is the fact that one of his 44-year-old sons works for the company.
He added that, personally, he was not aware of his working relationship with the owners of Fueltrade; Chris Chinebuah and Dzifa French Cudjoe.
According to him, his son is an adult and a father, who is responsible for his actions and his inaction and, as a father, he does not interfere in the choices of his son.
He can not say if his son owns 2% of the capital of Fueltrade, adding that the management of the company had to respond publicly.
The boss of the GNPC revealed that he knew only the owners of Fueltrade Ghana Limited, when he was general manager of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) under the Kufuor administration, but what whatever the transaction between them, it was on the agenda. TOR, adding that this arrangement ended when he left his post with the advent of the John Atta-Mills government in 2009.
At the GNPC, he told the Herald that he had taken note of some of the arrangements for the 2008 Ghana oil deal that was underway before becoming the head of the state agency. He insisted that he was paying too much attention to his reputation for being involved in scandals of conflict of interest.
The Herald made contact yesterday with Chris Chinebuah, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fueltrade Limited, but promised to speak later in the day.
IMANI, said fearing that Aker Energy is not respecting Ghanaian laws because it is a political link. In this regard, Bentil accused the government of treating AKER with protective gloves, claiming that the company had "launched the torch" in most of the key decisions since the acquisition of Hess Petroleum in 2017.
He called on the government to be firm in its dealings with Aker Energy, noting that most of the decisions that should have been made by Parliament were made unilaterally by Aker Energy in a manner that raises eyebrows.
Aker Energy is 50% owned by the Norwegian Aker, the remaining 50% being allocated to Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekk through his private company.
According to him, the discovery of oil is actually $ 30 billion and, unless the government acts quickly to protect the interests of the state, Ghana could lose to the Norwegian society; Aker Energy.
The 450 to 550 million barrels of oil – discovered in two wells – were discovered in February and March 2019.
Earlier this year, the company announced the discovery of oil in the Pecan South-1A Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DWT / CTP) well off Ghana; presented as the largest oil discovery in Africa.
Kofi Bentil, strongly argued that the discovery is claimed by Aker Energy, without legal basis.
Aker Energy acquired the 51% stake in a previous well in the region, discovered by another Norwegian company, Hess Oil.
Hess Oil, operated as part of an oil agreement with the Government of Ghana signed in 2006, granting the company a seven-year period to undertake oil exploration in a given area, the contracted area.
Kofi Bentil, according to the laws governing the exploration and production of oil in Ghana, said that this exploration period ended in 2013. Any oil discovery made outside the exploration period can not be claimed by the society that found it – it belongs to the state.
In fact, he said, Aker Energy, having inherited Hess's oil well at the end of the exploration period, was not legally allowed to continue its exploration activities . She was only required to conduct work evaluating the Pecan discovery made by her predecessor – Hess Oil.
Why were they allowed to engage in exploration in flagrant violation of the laws? Kofi Bentil wondered. Assuming that Aker Energy accidentally fell on a new well during appraisal, it was legally required to notify the government so that it negotiates who controls what stake, but Kofi Bentil said that it was nothing of the sort. .
Instead, he said, the company claimed the new wells as they were part of Hess Oil's acquired stake, pointing out that it could not be said that the new wells were part of the original well, as an evaluation showed that there was no dynamic communication. between the new wells and the existing one.
Kofi Bentil has read extensively, documents suggesting that Aker Energy had submitted to the government its development plan regarding new wells, stating that, in accordance with the law, the Minister of Energy should evaluate this development plan (PDD) and either disagree or approve it. .
If the Minister does not respond within 30 days, the proposals submitted by the corporation are deemed to be accepted.
IMANI Vice President said that if the Energy Minister, John Peter Amewu, did not respond (the Petroleum Commission had advised him to do so), the oil discovery of 30 billion dollars would become the exclusive property of Aker Energy.
He does not understand why the ministry seems lax while the country is about to lose a resource that legitimately belongs to the people of Ghana. The two new oil wells are not the only resources that Aker Energy claims ownership of.
According to Mr. Bentil, in flagrant violation of the laws, the company refused to surrender the rest of the contract area to the state. In fact, the company claimed the 30 percent returned by Hess before its stake would be acquired by Aker Energy. The company has in fact indicated that it will continue its oil exploration activities in the Deepwater Cape Three Point / Tano South area.
This is despite the fact that no oil agreement allows it to continue prospecting.
Kofi Bentil insists that with the discovery and evaluation of the wells, the remaining parts of the Pecan field should have been abandoned.
While arguing that IMANI is not interested in allegations and accusations of wrongdoing, he insisted that the government should protect the national interest by claiming its share of new oil wells discovered.
He is surprised that the government did not pay the $ 140 million it had to pay to retain a stake in the Pecan well.
"Ghana needs money," he said, "God knows we need it, so the government must act quickly and claim it."
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