The Board of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has decided to stay away from any discussion regarding the controversial planned sale of half of the seven per cent share Ghana acquired from Anadarko’s share in the Jubilee and Ten oilfields, to PetroSA, the national oil company of South Africa.
Rather, GNPC wants Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, or President Nana Akufo-Addo to handle the controversial deal going forward.
“We have washed our hands off. Let the minister do what he thinks is best,” the under-fire Board Chairman of GNPC, Mr. Freddie Blay said on Accra-based Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Tuesday after he said the board met and took that decision on Tuesday.
Mr. Freddie Blay and GNPC have come under fire after a letter by the Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, to Jubilee House, the seat of Government, revealed that he was clandestinely dealing with South Africa’s PetroSA to sell Ghana’s oil assets to the company despite objecting to the planned sale.
In a strongly worded letter sent to the Jubilee House, the Energy Minister said Mr Freddie Blay was pretty much aware that he had written to South Africa’s Minister for Energy and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, that Ghana would not sell its seven per cent interest to PetroSA.
In the said letter to Gwede Mantashe, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh wrote: “Honourable Minister, the Government of Ghana would like to reiterate that we cannot support PetroSA in its quest to pursue pre-emption of Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL) stakes that have already been acquired by Ghana, as this would be inconsistent with our stated objectives of increasing the State’s stakes in our natural resources development including oil and gas. This policy informed the use of state funds in this acquisition,” parts of the letter dated 24/11/2022 stated.
Despite being copied and aware of the Minister’s letter to South Africa’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, the Board Chairman of GNPC, Mr Freddie Blay, on 23rd May 2023, wrote to PetroSA: “We receive your last letter dated 22nd December 2022 and noted the contents thereof. Under this, and further, our meetings regarding the said pre-emption transaction in line with the rights afforded to PetroSA in the DWT Joint Operating Agreement, and on the discussion of an equal split in the DWT interest held by JOHL with PetroSA and GNPC, we, as mentioned in conversation, sought guidance from our legal advisors on the matter.
“Consistent with the said advice, the GNPC Board has considered and is agreeable to your proposal to share the interest in an equal split in the DWT interest held by JOHL. Our Board, considering your strong views in maintaining PetroSA’s claim to pre-emptive rights afforded under the DWT Joint Operating Agreement, and being desirous to continue to cultivate the cordial relationship between our two entities to agree that this split is prudent to both parties’ interest.”
This revelation prompted a coalition of Civil Society Organisations working in the extractive sector, anti-corruption and good governance to demand the immediate removal of Mr. Freddie Blay and Mr. Opoku Ahweneeh-Danquah, CEO of GNPC, from their post.
The CSOs, numbering about 29 comprising African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and Centre for Extractives and Development Africa (CEDA), were of the view that the continuous stay in office of the duo poses threats to the nation’s oil and gas resources.
For 2022 alone, Ghana raked in some US$290 million from the seven per cent share in the Jubilee and TEN, according to a report by Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC).
However, reacting to the demands by the CSOs, Mr Freddie Blay stated that he did no wrong in the planned sale of the oil assets.
Mr Freddie Blay said he had discussed the sale of Ghana’s oil assets to PetroSA with President Nana Akufo-Addo.
As far as he was concerned, the planned sale of the assets was best for Ghana, saying the state risked losing it since PetroSA had been claiming it.
“I have done nothing wrong. I have observed my conscience and I thought I was protecting the interest of the country, and I am convinced about it and if others think otherwise and if those who appointed me are saying otherwise, then so be it.
“I have spoken to the President about it, and we haven’t gotten to where he will ask for his job back. It is not about convincing the President. The law will speak for itself, and the law will talk and there are few documents on the agreement,” Mr. Blay said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Though Mr. Gumede expressed the hope that the process would be quickened, he stressed that unfortunately, “consumers are failing themselves by not putting up proposals to ensure changes in the sector,” which is beneficial to suppliers.
Sadly, the Act setting up the NERSA confines their scope and that is why last month, an upward adjustment of over 18 per cent amid irregular electricity supply in South Africa could not be resisted because of the uncoordinated consumer front in the country.
It is in the phase of these inconsistencies in the electricity supply chain in that country that compels Mr. Gumede who is an electrical engineer by profession is advocating reforms and urging South Africans to firm interest groups to fight the law regulating the sector in the country to cushion poor consumption.
“Most essential service consumers in countries in Africa and other developing countries suffer this fate as a result of the way our laws regulating most essential services are formulated and regulated,” he explained.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
In a statement issued by ECG on Tuesday, 23 May, it said it would operate with a lean workforce to ensure its top management and staff embark on the nationwide exercise.
The statement urged customers who owe arrears to settle their bills to avoid disconnection.
During the last revenue mobilisation exercise, which started from March 20 to April 20, 2023, the company recovered about Gh¢3.1 billion from its customers.
Source: 
At the same event, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the NPA, Mr. Joe Addo-Yobo, was awarded the Public Sector Board Chairman for the Year 2022.
A member of the NPA Governing Board, Mr. Bernard Owusu, received the awards on behalf of Dr. Abdul-Hamid and Mr. Addo-Yobo amidst applause from the audience comprising captains of industry and business development experts.
The ceremony, which involved speeches and panel discussions, was held on the theme: “Economic Sovereignty, Sustainable Corporate Governance, Digital Industrial Transformation: New Paths for Growth and Prosperity: A Private-Public Sector CEO Dialogue & Learning’’.
It is recalled that Dr. Abdul-Hamid emerged as the Public Sector CEO for the Year 2022 at the Ghana Business Awards.
Similarly, in 2021 the NPA Boss was awarded for his sterling leadership, business excellence, and professionalism at the Ghana CEO Excellence Awards.
In his address at the seventh Ghana CEO Summit, the CEO of Chief Executives Network Ghana, Mr. Ernest De-Graft Egyir, said the awards were in recognition of the leadership, innovation and transformation exhibited by captains of industry in the public and private sectors.
In his speech, a business development expert, Prof. Ayaz A. Shafi, urged businesses to review the way they operate in terms of structure and leadership.
He also tasked captains of industry to take advantage of emerging issues to grow and sustain their businesses, saying “it is a sure recipe for failure if you do not take advantage of emerging issues.”
Reacting to the award, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid in a tweet said: “I was the recipient of the award for “Outstanding Public Leader for the year 2022” at the just ended 7th Edition of the Ghana CEO summit. I’m extremely grateful to the Board, Management and Staff of the National Petroleum for their continuous support.”
Source: 
Mr. Provençal, on his part, thanked the President of the Republic, H.E. President Nana Akufo Addo, and the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for allowing him to serve his country.
He acknowledged the continuous support of the Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, SIGA and that of the Board and management of BOST.
Mr. Provençal also extended his appreciation to the union and the entire staff for their unflinching support in turning the company around.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
For its “impersonation,” using an unregistered local company, GNPC should never have paid for the so-called $29million seismic survey. In the old days, GNPC would never have agreed to that. By law, GNPC on behalf of the Ghana government, is entitled to EVERY dataset that is acquired in Ghana. That means the corporation would have had in its possession a copy of the dataset anyway. And under Ghana’s law, if Aker Energy had to give up its acreage because it had committed fraud, it could not take the data away anyway. The dataset belonged to the Government of Ghana. Clearly, the people in charge of GNPC at the time either did know what they were doing or something more sinister might have happened.
There are many people still in Ghana and around the world who know about these things. It is just a matter of contacting them.
By taking over Petrica’s assets in Ghana, Aker Energy assumed the rights, contractual obligations and responsibilities of Petrica. Undoubtedly, it was obvious that Petrica had an uncompleted Work Programme, which could be either appraisal or development. This would have been approved by the Government of Ghana through Parliament. If Aker did not complete that work programme, there were consequences. The company would have had to forfeit posted bonds or else would pay penalties. Why was it left off? Instead, they rather insultingly asked for payment from the government of Ghana!
Secondly, somewhere along the line, Aker Energy discovered that being in ultradeep waters (no company, not even Petrobras, was producing in such water depths anywhere in the world), the block was not as lucrative as it believed earlier, and so needed to offload it onto somebody. And who else will be so gullible as GNPC, which tried to convince the poor overtaxed Ghanian taxpayer to fork out a whopping $1.3billion as upfront profit for an incompetent and dubious operator. It was clear that someone was not giving the true picture to the people of Ghana.
Technically, Aker Energy had contractual obligations to appraise or develop the field. If for technical or financial reasons it could do so, it had to hand the field/block back to the government of Ghana and pay penalties for breach of contract. In which case, GNPC would assume ownership of the block on behalf of the Government and people of Ghana FREE OF CHARGE! This is Level 1 Exploration and Production, no rocket science.
There is history on that score. Phillips Petroleum Company discovered the Tano fields in 1976/77. When the company realised that it could not profitably produce them, it sat out its contracts and handed the fields over to the Government of Ghana in 1981, without the state paying a penny. If Akers Energy could not develop its “discovery” for financial or technical reasons, why should the poor Ghanaian taxpayer reward their incapability? Why wouldn’t we allow it to stew in its own filth until it walks away and we can take the field(s) back for free, which happens in industry all the time?
As the article says GNPC has been given $1.6Billion as ‘enablement fund’ to “practise” field development and production. With such colossal figures, the corporation should be able to go out into the world to operate oil and gas fields. Petroci of Cote d’Ivoire did not have a millionth of that before it successfully went into field production in Texas of all places! What has the corporation done with all that money? And nobody has so much as answered a query so far. Rather, they were asking the poor taxpayer to put in more!
Some national and independent companies cut their teeth with onshore development and production. If the corporation is serious about learning to operate oil and gas fields, then a quarter of the “enablement” endowment could cover the drilling and appraisal of a stratigraphic well to test the viability/prospectivity of the Voltaian Basin. That is an onshore block, easy to deal with. That would be a more sensible national objective and better value for money.
Conclusion
Civil society organisation must get involved and seek redress at the international court of justice. Citizens and state officials of countries like America, Norway and United Kingdom love to point to Africa’s poverty in the midst of plenty as being the result of the corruption of her peoples and governments. However, they are among the worst offenders when it comes to corrupting African officials. Let Ghanaian patriots around the world come together to file charges against this rogue Norwegian company at the international court of justice.
The future of the youth of Ghana is being sold for a song. It is time for Ghanaians below age 40 to rise up and say enough is enough. These old hags are setting too many booby traps for you and your children! Let this be a test case. The people of Ghana must not allow this Norwegian rogue to get away with this insult to our 30 million citizens!
The writer is a former CEO of GNPC under the erstwhile John Agyekum Kufour administration.
He is currently residing in Bedfordshire, England. 
