Ghana: Top GNPC Official Demands Bribe From US Firm…But Corporation Has Denied Wrongdoing

A top official of Ghana’s national oil company, GNPC, has allegedly demanded a bribe from TSB Offshore, Texas, USA-based oil and gas company, energynewsafrica.com sources have revealed.

TSB Offshore, a global oil and gas firm with expertise in decommissioning, recently pulled out from a partnership with Ensol Energy Ghana, a Ghanaian firm which won a project management consultancy contract for the decommissioning of the Saltpond Oilfield at Hini in the Central Region, Ghana, in a move that shocked many industry watchers.

The actual contract was awarded to Hans & Co. Oil and Gas Limited but Ensol Energy Ghana and TSB Offshore were awarded a project management consultancy contract.

According to sources close to the decommissioning project, the GNPC guru who was in Texas recently went to the office of the company and demanded some cuts from the contract sum.

Sources close to the project revealed that TBS Offshore was upset by the demand by the GNPC’s top official and, therefore, decided to invoke the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law against bribery of public officials abroad and pulled out of the partnership with Ensol Energy Ghana Limited.

This portal made about three attempts to speak to Ensol Energy Ghana Limited to speak to them to confirm or deny the demands by the top GNPC official.

Unfortunately, a lady who spoke to the editor of this portal claimed that she had given the number to the one in charge of communications to respond to our queries, but the fellow never reached out to us as promised.

This portal has emailed TSB Offshore about the issue; they are yet to respond.

Interestingly, a Paris- based Africa Intelligence, last Tuesday, May 16, 2023, published a story which alleged procurement breaches in the award of the Saltpond Oil Field Decommissioning Project.

The report suggested that Ensol Energy Ghana was awarded the contract because it was linked to Nana Kofi Frimpong, the GNPC’s CEO’s technical aide.

The report alleged that by the time Ensol and TSB Offshore were contracted, 70 per cent of the consultancy work had been done by GNPC’s technical team which had been working on the project since April.

However, reacting to the story by Africa Intelligence, Ghana’s national oil company, GNPC rejected claims that TSB’s withdrawal was a result of malpractices by anybody related to GNPC.

The corporation explained that Ensol indicated in a communication that “TSB decided to prioritise other contracts it had over the project management consultancy contract due to the prolonged procurement process from tender submission in October 2022 until contract execution at the end of January 2023. Nowhere in the Communication between GNPC and Ensol is there a suggestion that TSB’s withdrawal was as a result of malpractices by anybody related to GNPC, and as such anybody suggesting that must provide evidence.”

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com