GOIL Records ¢359bn

Provisional results of the initial public offer (IPO) of the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) indicate that ¢359 billion cedis was raised from the sale of government shares in the company, confirming CITY&BUSINESS' earlier report that GOIL's IPO had been oversubscribed .

The results also indicate that GOIL's IPO was oversubscribed by 100 per cent. The oversubscription will now pave way for government to issue an additional 14 per cent of its shares in GOIL.

GOILS' IPO was for an unrestricted open cash share offer which put up a total of 89,115,187 shares. This meant an over ¢180 billion was supposed to be realized from the 49 per cent shares that government offloaded.

The oversubscription, which shows immense investor confidence in the economy, was triggered mainly by ECOBANK and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

While ECOBANK acquired ¢100 billion, which was more than half what GOIL put over, SSNIT is believed to have bought a huge chunk of the only indigenous oil marketing company in Ghana shares.

Other institutional investors such as the insurance companies and other financial institutions have also bought a big part of GOIL's shares, not forgetting individual investors who rushed in during the closing stages to also acquire some of the shares.

The release of the results will now pave way for GOIL to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

Many financial and security analysts consider GOIL's listing as a potential stock, coming on the back of the nation's discovery of huge oil reserves at Cape Three Point in Western Region.

Significantly, GOIL's balance sheet for the last financial year also makes it an attractive commodity. Its financial result for 2006 showed that the company registered an impressive net turnover growth of 39.2.

Meanwhile, in response to Ghanaian motorists' demand for gasoline that unleashes the power in their petrol engines, GOIL is introducing a new high unleaded octane gasoline product onto the market.

Branded G-PLUS, the product, is unleaded gasoline with minimum Research Octane Number (RON) 95, designed for cars with high compression engines thereby enabling faster acceleration and maximised performance.

According to the Fuels Marketing Manager of GOIL, Mr. Charles Darko, G-PLUS is imported onto the Ghanaian market and meets the most stringent international standards. He also stated that G-PLUS will be available at selected GOIL filling stations soon.

The G-PLUS High Octane gasoline is also environmentally friendly since it is an oxygenated fuel produced to prevent premature burns in engines which are harmful to the environment.

The High Octane gasoline also prevents knocking or pinging in car engines thereby maximising their performance.

Knocking, also known as detonation, occurs when part of the fuel-air mixture in one or more of the car's cylinders ignites spontaneously without initiation from the spark plug due to compression.

By Charles Nixon Yeboah