Ghana To Lose $10 Billion To Aker Energy—Minority

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has noted with dismay the brazen attempt by the Akufo-Addo government to once more cede Ghana petroleum interests to foreign hands.

According to the Minority, instead of protecting the public purse and ensure that the citizenry benefits from the country's petroleum resources, the current government has demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that it is more concerned in protecting foreign interest to the detriment of the collective national interest.

The government rather than improving or maintaining the original agreement executed between the Government of Ghana's GNPC Explorco on the one side and AGM Petroleum Ghana LTD on September 10, 2013, the Akufo-Addo Government has shamefully reduced Ghana's stake from 43% to a paltry 18% (a reduction of 58%).

The Minority Leader, Hon. Haruna Iddrissu briefing the press this afternoon indicated that "the impact of the "selloff" from AGM/Akers Energy is huge; a potential loss of over 250 million barrels of recoverable oil production equivalent (net to Ghana), which is almost the size of the entire Jubilee Field.

The Minority Leader said the Minority Caucus finds this renegotiation as a rip-off especially as the GNPC has already invested over $30 million in acquiring data and reducing exploration risks over the block, thus making it attractive prior to the entity of the AGM/Aker Energy into same Block.

He said, additionally, there is commitment by the AGM/Aker Energy to pay for (or carry) GNPC on the costs of the first two exploration wells which the current government led by His Excellency Nana Akuffo Addo is forfeiting.

"This amounts to forfeiture of free funding of a be $ 62million (I.e 24% of $259 million Well commitment).