GNPC denies not accounting for oil revenues

THE Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) says it is not true that the corporation does not render account to the state for oil revenues.

According to officials of the corporation, the GNPC was in compliance with its statutory reporting and accountability obligations and had, therefore, submitted its audited accounts to all relevant government agencies, including the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in accordance with Article 187 of the Constitution and Section 12 of the Ghana National Petroleum Law, 1983 (PNDC Law 64).  

Senior public officials at the ongoing Summer School organised by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, STAR Ghana and IMANI Ghana said the GNPC had unilaterally appropriated public funds and failed to pay dividends on its 2011 earnings.

The corporation has also been accused of misleading the public regarding Jubilee oil production prospects and subsequently failed to account for the resources entrusted to its management, including US$207.96 million ceded to it in 2011. But GNPC officials said that was factually incorrect.

A statement issued in Accra by the acting Director of Corporate Affairs at the GNPC, Mr Eric Pwadura, said it was completely inaccurate to state that the GNPC did not render account to the state for oil revenues.

“The corporation has accounted to Parliament for its annual budget allocations from Jubilee revenue through the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning as required by the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA),” it said.

It further stated that of the $207.96 million lent the corporation by Parliament from the petroleum revenue in 2011, $132.4 million (or 63.7%) went into part repayment of the money it borrowed from the Jubilee partners, while $165.8 million went into the payment of its share of field development costs incurred since 2008.

It said $30,315,185 (or 14.6%) also went into the acquisition, processing and interpretation of 2,612 km² of 3D Seismic Data for the Southwest Deep Tano block, $28,119,624 (or 13.5%) for fabrication and installation of 14 km of deepwater pipeline as part of the Natural Gas Infrastructure Project; $7,661,475 (or 3.7%) for staff costs and $9,383,204 (or 4.5%) went towards general operational and administrative expenditure.

“These receipts and expenditures are captured in detail in our 2011 financial statement currently undergoing external audit,” the statement said.

It also debunked suggestions that the GNPC withheld revenue from the government by failing to pay the requisite dividend.

“The practice has been that the GNPC does not directly retain any revenue from the participating interest in Jubilee production. Rather, GNPC hands over 100 per cent of the gross revenue to the state, which then cedes such funds as Parliament considers necessary to cover GNPC’s share of development and production costs, annual administrative costs and its long-term capital needs,” it said.

It also said contrary to IMANI’s pessimistic assessment, the Jubilee field operations had been competent and delivered industry-leading operational and safety performances.

The corporation assured the public that as a national oil company, it saw the engagement of relevant stakeholders as central to its core mandate.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sat July 21, 2012