Gov't may compel oil exploration companies to sell crude locally

A draft regulation to be factored into the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill, when eventually passed will require oil firms operating in the country to set aside a portion of their production to satisfy local demand.

All the 90 thousand or so barrels of crude oil currently produced a day in the Jubilee Field is exported even though Ghana needs some 70 thousand barrels daily for fuel and electricity generation.

Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Energy, Vivian Gadzekpo explains to Joy News that though the law does not require the companies to sell the crude oil any cheaper than what obtains in the international market, it will save the country's refinery transportation, insurance and other costs associated with importing the fuel.

She said although there already is a provision in the various petroleum agreements requiring exploration companies to meet domestic supply requirements, “it was something that we used to sit across the table to negotiate.”

But now, “we find it so important that we would like to legislate so the minister would make regulations in details on this domestic supply requirement.”