Government has issued a stern warning to companies in the upstream petroleum sector who stopped working due to uncertainties over the ITLOS case to resume work or have their contracts terminated.
According to the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, keeping oil blocks idle for long denies the country the needed funds for development.
[contextly_sidebar id=”YpVYDUrES3lQFgGL9TbjtjOyBizLLwVe”]He issued the warning at local content workshop in Takoradi, and stressed that the Akufo-Addo government will not hesitate to terminate contracts if minimum work obligations are not met.
“…Because of the uncertainty that our industry was faced with as a result of the ITLOS [litigation], the boundary dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast, most companies sat back waiting for the ruling. As a result of the wait-and-see attitude, a number of them were not complying with the terms of the agreement as far as their minimal obligations were concerned.”
Given the favorable ruling that has eliminated the uncertainty, the government now expects the companies to go back to work, the Minister said.
“The government of Ghana has measures that we can take within the context of the petroleum agreement, including termination of the petroleum agreements. So we are cautioning the oil companies to go back to work.”
Dr. Amin Adams further cautioned that the inaction of the companies could affect cash inflows to the government needed to finance development projects.
“We are desirous of increasing activity upstream. When these companies are not performing we cannot increase activity. We are producing from our proven reserves and when you are depleting reserves and you don’t replace, a time will come when you have no oil and gas industry.”
“We don’t want to get to that stage, and if we have to avoid that problem, then we should be able to increase exploration activity so we can make more discoveries so we can increase production and revenue to the government,” he said.
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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonine.com/Ghana