Ghana\u2019s biggest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has in a message to welcome the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi on his two-day visit to Ghana, asked him to use his influence to review portions of Ghana\u2019s deal with ENI, a state-owned Italian oil conglomerate, to ensure that both countries benefit fairly.<\/p>\n
In a statement signed by Nana Akomea, NPP\u2019s Director of Communications, said the ENI-Sankofa 20-year gas deal for the exploitation of the Offshore Cape Three Points Block (OCTP), does not give Ghana value for money.<\/p>\n
Among several issues raised, the NPP said \u201cthe Government of Ghana\u2019s provision of financial terms to ENI and its partners of 20% return on investment, instead of the normal 12.5%, is an unusually high rate for commercial transactions of this nature, especially as GNPC assumes all the risk in the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”amFGaAiMf1AzPl00nPyAUnmSTRTFC4CO”]The party said \u201cwe hope the Italian Prime Minister will use his good offices to prevail on ENI and the Government of Ghana to review some of these terms, in order to maximize our mutual benefits from this project. We believe this will further strengthen the Ghanaian-Italian relationship and North-South co-operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Italian PM as part of his visit addressed Ghana\u2019s Parliament on Tuesday where he promised stronger ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n
Below is the full statement:<\/strong><\/p>\n NPP welcomes Italian Prime Minister, raises questions about ENI-Sankofa deal<\/p>\n The New Patriotic Party joins the Government and people of Ghana to welcome His Excellency Mr. Matteo Renzi, Prime Minister of Italy, to Ghana today. The NPP appreciates the enormous assistance of Italy to Ghana over the years and the excellent state of our relationship.<\/p>\n On this auspicious occasion of the Prime Minister\u2019s visit, however, the NPP is constrained to highlight for the consideration of His Excellency and, indeed, all Ghanaians aspects of Ghana\u2019s contractual relationship with ENI, a state-owned Italian oil conglomerate, and its partners over the exploitation of the Offshore Cape Three Points Block (OCTP).<\/p>\n Our worries, which have also been expressed by some Civil Society Organizations in the oil sector, include:<\/p>\n i. The Government of Ghana\u2019s provision of financial terms to ENI and its partners of 20% return on investment, instead of the normal 12.5%, is an unusually high rate for commercial transactions of this nature, especially as GNPC assumes all the risk in the project.<\/p>\n ii. The negotiated gas price of $9.8\/MMBtu for gas from the Sankofa fields is too high by world standards, of between $5-7\/MMBtu. It is even higher than the price of gas sold to Ghana from Nigeria, which stands at $8.3\/MMBtu, delivered at Takoradi. It is even more expensive than our own Atuabo Gas price of $8.8\/MMBtu delivered at Takoradi. At the negotiated gas price of $9.8\/MMBtu, it puts to great risk Ghana\u2019s potential of becoming the Petrochemical hub of the region to Nigeria, due to that country\u2019s lower gas prices.<\/p>\n iii. This agreement compels GNPC to buy up to 90% of ENI produced gas at a higher negotiated price of $9.8\/MMBtu for 20 solid years. This gas sales same agreement is further guaranteed against default by three guarantees \u2013 the government of Ghana, the World Bank and GNPC \u2013 amounting to some $750 million. v. Ghana also guarantees additional free cash flows to the company by allowing them to write-off 7% interest on all commercial loans from project revenues, when the normal provision is between 2-3%. This also reduces Ghana\u2019s potential tax revenues from this project by over $160 million. No other companies, whether from Jubilee or TEN, have been given this same rate of 7%.<\/p>\n vi. The cost of the development of the Jubilee Fields, with more reserves of oil equivalence and with a water depth of 3,630 ft, came to $4 billion. The cost of development of the TEN oil fields, also with more oil reserves of oil equivalence, came to $4.9 billion. The cost of development of ENI\u2019s Sankofa is $7 billion, with less reserves of oil equivalence and at relatively lower water depths of 2,706 ft. We wonder the quality of due diligence done, if any.<\/p>\n We ask, what possible motives could drive the government of Ghana to bend backwards and grant all these unprecedented incentives, which are not even available to the original developers of Cape Three Points?<\/p>\n We are highlighting these issues, as this is potentially the largest single investment in Ghana, which will bind the Ghanaian people for the next 20 years. It is, therefore, important that the benefits of this project are not so one-sided as they seem today.<\/p>\n We hope the Italian Prime Minister will use his good offices to prevail on ENI and the Government of Ghana to review some of these terms, in order to maximize our mutual benefits from this project. We believe this will further strengthen the Ghanaian-Italian relationship and North-South co-operation.
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\nFurthermore, GNPC, after buying the gas from ENI at a guaranteed price stands the risk of losing its market (VRA, IPPs, petrochemical industries) to other cheap gas suppliers.<\/p>\n
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\nNana Akomea
\nNPP Director of Communications
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\nBy: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @AfanyiDadzie<\/a>
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