He believes this will help regulate entities such as Exxon Mobil, which has strong imprints in the energy sector.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OPCqjxYurl99XQM45Sy5R0PnG9ZbG4JT”]The Petroleum Production and Exploration Bill, among others, stipulates that Ghanaians should be prioritized in terms of employment in the petroleum industry.

However, some oil exploration companies blatantly flout this provision.

Last week the government signed a deal with the oil giant, Exxon Mobil, which is awaiting ratification by Parliament. But even before that, Dr. Manteaw believes a lot needs to be done to keep oil companies in check.

“It requires very mature and experienced regulatory institutions which we don’t have. This puts extra responsibility on citizens. We all have a role to play to ensure that the rules governing the game are observed by Exxon Mobil.”

“As I speak to you, they [GNPC] are still in the process of building their capacity so I am saying that, for a regulatory institution which is still an infant, you need to be wary when you are bringing in the big companies because they can actually override our institutions,” he said to Citi News.

Parliament assures scrutiny

The Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament has indicated that it will ensure Ghana gets the best out of the deal signed with ExxonMobil.

The agreement is expected to be presented to Parliament for ratification when the House resumes.

The agreement will allow the oil giant to acquire exploration and production rights for the Deepwater Cape Three Points block that is Tano Basin.

Ghanaian ownership is estimated at 30 percent, comprising 10 percent royalties to the government while the GNPC owns 15 percent stake as Carried and Participation Interest.

Earlier concerns from Manteaw

Dr. Steve Manteaw had accused the government circumventing the law by signing the oil exploration deal with Exxon Mobil.

He also raised concerns over government’s failure to resort to an open bidding process to select Exxon Mobil despite the Energy Minister, Boakye Agarko, explaining that negotiations began before the law was passed.

Group being selective

But the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, said the Civil Society group was being selective in its contentions.

According to him, the group was only focusing on section 10 (3) of the 2016 Petroleum Act 919, which requires the government to enter into exploration agreements through a competitive public tender as the default process.

Dr. Amin Adam made reference to Section 10 (9) of the same law, which he said permitted direct negotiations without public tender.

Section 10 (9) says: “Despite the subsection (3) the Minister may, in consultation with the Commission, determine that a petroleum agreement may be entered into by direct negotiations without public tender, where direct negotiations  represent the most efficient manner to achieve optimal exploration, development and production of petroleum resources in a defined area.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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