Government denies minority oil deal allegations

Government denies minority oil deal allegations
November 13, 2009
Dr. Kwabena Donkor, Deputy Minister of Energy, told journalists in Accra that since the National Democratic Congress (NDC) came to power on January 7, 2009, only two oil marketing companies (OMCs) and one Oil Trading Company (OTC) had been licensed.

"We have not raised questions about the phenomenal jump in the number of OMCs under the NPP, even though the increase accounts for complex challenges in the industry.

The Minority in Parliament on Thursday held a press conference and alleged, among other things, that the NDC had licensed a number of companies without any experience in the oil industry, and that accounted for the shortages of oil being experienced in the country.

"Even UBI was licensed under the previous government as an OMC, but they recently met additional requirements and were upgraded to an OTC," he said.

Dr. Donkor said out of 431,901 metric tonnes of petrol imported under the NDC so far, only 15,035 metric tonnes was imported by UBI, adding that all of the kerosene importation was done by companies licensed by the NPP.

Dr. Donkor noted that a number of companies had applied to the NPA for licenses as bulk distributors but none had been licensed yet by the NDC government.

Dr. Donkor said the NDC believed that Ghanaian companies should be given the opportunity to participate in the local businesses and so the government had allowed all the companies licensed under the NPP to operate unhindered.

Dr. Donkor also said the Minister of Energy, Dr. Joe Oteng, who is currently in China, would address the issue of ownership and acquisition of the Jubilee Fields on his return.

The deputy minister also debunked allegations that he owned SCAN Oil, saying that SCAN Oil was a Scandinavian company, which does business in Ghana.

GNA