GNPC plans to acquire two stakes in Ghana’s offshore fields
Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has said that the Government of Ghana is 100 percent behind the Ghana Petroleum Corporation in its bid to acquire Aker blocks.
The GNPC through its Exploration and Production Company Limited (GNPC Explorco) intends to buy a 37% stake in Deep Water Tano/Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) operated by Aker Energy Ghana Limited and 70% stake in the South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited.
To that end, Opoku Prempeh requested parliament to make an approval that will enable the GNPC to purchase stakes in oil blocks of Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum.
This transaction has divided the front of Civil society Organizations in Ghana with some saying it is bad whereas others are for it.
The CSOs believe that the valuation used a higher value of about 65 dpb, and that Ghana is not likely to achieve that price in the medium to long term and therefore, it makes the transaction disadvantageous to the country.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation Dr. K. K Sarpong, has also come under severe criticism from CSOs over the deal.
For example, Executive Secretary of the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) Mr. Ben Boakye said while speaking on the Key Points on TV3/3FM with host Dzifa Bampoh on Saturday, August 28, that “We also see another diversionary act of Dr KK Sarpong trying to rather tout to his credential to win public support for this transaction.
“He was talking about his role at COCOBOD and how he helped syndicate loans, I am not sure we are going to celebrate that as a civil society. If he wants to draw our attention to his public life, we are happy to engage him in that. But we have deliberately stayed on this conversation to ensure that we are dealing with the specifics and the subject matter.
“That smear campaign we will not engage in, I am not sure civil society will want to celebrate turning COCOBOD into a debt procurement institution for several decades. Recently, I was in the US to learn about how Cocoa is processed in a museum, they had cocoa grown in a room to show people how cocoa thrives. That is the legacy you will want to leave and not becoming a debt procurement enterprise. I am surprised that he leaves out other roles in public life as in TOR. We had to get into all of those things.
“As much as possible we want to stay on this conversation and if he wants to stay there we’ll dissect the issues, we will bring to perspectives what the problems are with this particular transaction, we can even zoom deeper into his role in this GNPC and pick on many issues.”
But in a meeting with the board of the GNPC on Tuesday, August 31, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh said “It is not only Aker, I do know that there is an intention to go into Aker, there is an intention to go into AGM, there is an intention to go into Springfield and even the Jubilee field and TEN Field not only significant or more shares but more experience in the exploration agenda of the GNPC, the Government is going to support you 100 per cent.
“If the government is going to support you 100 percent, it means that this seven-member board must be up and running with all the responsibilities to ensure that Ghanaians enjoy.”