The Petroleum Commission (PC) has denied that the absence of
a new Petroleum Exploration Law, three years into oil production in the
country, will deprive Ghanaians the benefits of petroleum resources.
According to the commission, petroleum agreements were
negotiated taking into consideration clear benefits to be derived by the state
and the citizenry from petroleum resources.
The Coordinator of Local Content at the PC, Dr Juliette
Twumasi-Anokye, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the model
agreement for negotiations in the petroleum sector had stringent clauses which
clearly specified such resources as the property of Ghana.
In an interview on the sidelines of a press conference to
launch the 2013 edition of the Offshore West Africa Oil and Gas exhibition, Dr
Twumasi-Anokye said the delay in passing the law was to ensure the availability
of adequate provisions that would lend credence to the benefits Ghanaians ought
to derive from oil exploration and production activities.
The three-day conference and exhibition, to be held from
March 19-21, 2013 on the theme: “Exploring the dynamics of West Africa
offshore”, is expected to provide a platform for stakeholders to share ideas
and learn from experts on the latest technology and solutions relating to
offshore exploration.
The event, to be hosted by the Ghana National Petroleum
Corporation (GNPC), with sponsorship from Tullow Oil, among other stakeholders,
will combine a high- class conference to demonstrate newer technologies in the
exploration and production of oil.
The draft copy of the new law, which is meant to replace the
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Exploration and Production Law,
PNDC Law 84 of 1983, is yet to be finalised by the Attorney-General’s
Department.
This has led to civil society organisations and other
stakeholders raising concerns and urging the government to ensure coherence in
the passage of the law to take cognisance of the challenges in the sector.
Dr Twumasi-Anokye said the PC had, since 2012, been
reviewing the quarterly local content plan of the operators in the sector to
ensure that their procurement, employment and succession plans were in
conformity with regulations stipulated by the PC.
“We do these things to guarantee fairness as part of
measures employed to ensure that incumbent contractors are not used in line
with the PC’s succession plan provisions,” she said.
She further indicated that since the PC’s role was
underpinned on provisions that would go to firm up local content provision in
the upstream sector, officials were eager to put in place the Legislative
Instrument (LI) to further strengthen the local content regime.
“We expect that the
Attorney-General’s Department will forward the LI which will replace the
existing regulations of 1984 to Parliament for consideration and passage in the
ensuing weeks,” she said.
SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Fri, Feb 15, 2013
Thanks for sharing this, Della. In the age where oil prices are going up, more people are finding ways to acquire oil under the protection of the law. Offshore exploration is a good alternative to find oil since it has environmental benefits as well. Good day!
ReplyDeleteRobert Myers