IMANI is cheated – Minister of Energy talks about Aker oil discovery

General News of Monday, April 29, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-04-29

Energy Minister John Peter Amewu has challenged allegations of an IMANI vice president, Kofi Bentil, that Ghana could lose about $ 4.8 billion in revenue if an agreement with Aker Energy was not renegotiated urgently. .

According to the minister, the information provided by IMANI Africa on the need for the government to take immediate steps to negotiate oil agreements on new oil deposits discovered by the Norwegian company Aker Energy, in commercial quantities at Deepwater Tano Cape The Three block Points (DWT / CTP) off Ghana was unfounded.

At a press conference held in Accra yesterday to respond to a previous press conference organized by IMANI, Amewu said: "It is curious to see how IMANI has come to the conclusion that Ghana is at risk of losing $ 30 billion if the government does not negotiate a new oil deal with Aker Energy. "

"There is no basis for a new oil agreement.

Indeed, the work done by Aker Energy was part of an evaluation program based on the existing oil agreement, "he said.

The work, which included the drilling of the Pecan 4a, Pecan South and Pecan South East wells, was part of the evaluation program submitted by Hess Oil and inherited from Aker Energy and its partners.

Amewu said the work should be postponed for two-and-a-half years following the interim decision of the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which imposed an injunction on new drilling activities. . in the disputed area, part of which was the Pecan field.

Mr. Amewu stated that the interim decision, which was issued on April 25, 2015, involved 69% of the current DWT / CTP contract area and parts of other contracted areas.

Oil Agreement

"As a country, we respect the laws governing oil agreements, so any oil discovery, once produced, will be shared in accordance with the terms of the oil agreement," said Mr. Amewu.

He added that the DTP / CTP Petroleum Agreement provided for a crude oil sharing mechanism in addition to other benefits, such as taxes, of which Ghana's share was estimated at about 55 to 60 percent of the crude oil produced .

"It's important to note that these benefits are spread throughout the life of the field. Therefore, for anyone to claim that it was drilling wells drilled outside the exploration period, all the oil discoveries in these works require a new oil deal. with new conditions, is totally uninformed, "he added.

He added that the findings made in the drilled evaluation wells confirmed the true extent of Pecan's original discovery, stating that "that's why they call Pecan 4A, Pecan South 1A and Pecan. South East 1A ", which shows that they were linked.

The Energy Minister said that it was not true that Aker Energy unilaterally decided, in its development plan, to cease all production without the government's authorization .

He stated that the allegation that Aker would have extended the period of the oil agreement from 2036 to 2049 could only be made by Parliament.

He said the think tank's attempt to link the South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) oil deal, better known as the AGM block, to Aker Energy's current project was also misleading or even malicious.

The minister said that it was disappointing that IMANI behaved this way, especially after engaging with the focus group a few weeks ago on these issues.

Facts

Aker Energy acquired the 51% stake in a previous well in the region, discovered by Hess Oil, another Norwegian company.

Hess Oil was governed by an oil deal signed in 2006 by the Government of Ghana, which gave it seven years to carry out oil exploration activities in the contract area.

This exploration period ended in 2013, however.

Aker Energy announced earlier this year that it has discovered a commercial amount of oil in the Pecan well in the DWT / CTP block off the western coast.

According to the company, the initial work carried out revealed that its Pecan well in the block contained about 450 to 550 million barrels of oil.

The company predicted that the volume of oil included in a development plan for the next evaluation wells could reach between 600 and 1,000 barrels of oil.

Fueltrade Limited

In addition, Fueltrade Limited issued a statement to refute IMANI Africa's claim regarding the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points Block (DWT / CTP).

According to the statement, IMANI's vice president, Kofi Bentil, claimed that K. K. Sarpong and his family were the owners of Fueltrade Ltd.

According to the statement, IMANI Africa and Kofi Bentil put forward this allegation, apparently in support of the allegations they alleged against the DWT / CPT project.

"In particular, IMANI and Kofi Bentil have stated that it is unethical that Fueltrade Ltd, a company owned by Dr. KK Sarpong and his family, is a partner in the DWT / CTP project", he declared.

However, according to the statement, "the clear but deplorable intention of IMANI Africa and Kofi Bentil was to entail Fueltrade Ltd in its accusations of involvement in business practices contrary to the law." ;ethics".

"Fueltrade Ltd wants to declare that its shareholders are Chris Chinebuah and Dzifa French Cudjoe, who have all the legal interest and benefit for the company," he said.

He categorically stated that Dr. K. K. Sarpong and / or his family were not legally or beneficially owned by Fueltrade.

According to the statement, IMANI Africa and Kofi Bentil had ample opportunity before the press conference to verify the ownership of Fueltrade Ltd.

They could have verified the property by engaging directly with Fueltrade Ltd or by searching the easily accessible records of the Registrar General's Department.

Fueltrade Ltd was satisfied that IMANI Africa and Kofi Bentil had not conducted any verification because they intended to act and speak maliciously and / or with reckless disregard of the truth in order to achieve a collateral goal.

"By pronouncing our society as unethical and implicated in unethical (lies) activities and for unacknowledged reasons, IMANI Africa and Kofi Bentil caused us embarrbadment and harm. to reputation.

"We asked our lawyers to ask for a retraction and an apology from them.

If no manifestation of remorse materializes, we will take all necessary measures to protect our business and our hard-earned reputation, "he added.

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