GHANA'S OIL MUST BE A BLESSING
GHANA'S MUST BE A BLESSING
Feb. 23, 2010
The Deputy Upper East regional minister, Madam Lucy Awuni has disclosed that the government has put in place necessary measures to ensure that Ghana does not toe the line of those oil-rich countries whose oil resource has caused conflicts instead of solving their development and socio-economic problems. She was speaking at a consultative forum in Bolgatanga on the use of Ghana's oil revenue.
Madam Awuni noted that since Ghana struck oil in commercial quantities in 2007, there have been various suggestions from individuals, groups, state agencies and non-governmental organisations as to how to manage and use Ghana’s oil money.
She thus commended the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and other stakeholders for constituting a team of experts to consult with the public to fashion out the best possible ways of managing and using the expected revenue from the oil resource of Ghana.
In a presentation, Mr. Ben Asante of the Ghana National Petroleum Company [GNPC] revealed that Ghana has had oil deposits long before 1967 with the GNPC being the statutory body tasked with the responsibility of researching and exploring for oil.
Mr. Asante disclosed that between 1968 and 1980, exploration works intensified within which period 31 wells were drilled but only three discoveries were made. He said from 1981 to 2000, the government further enacted specific laws to guide oil exploration in the country in order to ensure that the nation derives maximum benefits from its oil resource.
According to him, the GNPC over the past decade focused on the deep water areas for oil. As a result, a couple of multinational oil companies partnered Ghana in search for oil in the western and eastern basins during which significant finds were made.
For example, beside the jubilee field which was discovered in 2000, three other major discoveries were recorded including the Odum, Sankofa and Tweneboah fields which are still at appraisal stages.
In the jubilee field, the government of Ghana has only 23 per cent shareholding while the rest is held by foreign companies. On the whole however, Ghana will benefit from as much as 68 per cent of the total oil revenues as pertained in some provisions of the contracts signed.
The GNPC officer said exploration is often done in phases thus in the phase one which will start in the last quarter of this year, 280 million barrels of oil are estimated to be pumped out from the belly of the water bed with a daily production of 120,000 barrels. It is also estimated that, for every barrel of
oil produced, a 1000 cubic feet of gas can be produced to serve as liquefied petroleum gas for cooking and other uses.
The second phase of production which Mr. Asante said will begin in 2013 will see a daily pump of 240,000 barrels of oil a day representing a double of the phase one figure. He said Ghana’s
oil is of premium quality describing it as sweet crude implying that the composition of sulphur in it is very small.
A special adviser to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Joe Amoaku-Tuffuor, noted that there is a great degree of uncertainty in the oil industry and advised that the country should not put all its hopes on the oil find to provide solutions to development problems.
During an open forum, a journalist Mr. Samuel Abane called for transparency and publication of all contracts signed on behalf of the Ghanaian in order to win public trust and eliminate unnecessary suspicion.
Participants in the consultative forum included chiefs, heads of department, security agencies, non-governmental organisations and the general public. A retired educationist, Mr. Robert Ajene chaired the function.
Feb. 23, 2010
The Deputy Upper East regional minister, Madam Lucy Awuni has disclosed that the government has put in place necessary measures to ensure that Ghana does not toe the line of those oil-rich countries whose oil resource has caused conflicts instead of solving their development and socio-economic problems. She was speaking at a consultative forum in Bolgatanga on the use of Ghana's oil revenue.
Madam Awuni noted that since Ghana struck oil in commercial quantities in 2007, there have been various suggestions from individuals, groups, state agencies and non-governmental organisations as to how to manage and use Ghana’s oil money.
She thus commended the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and other stakeholders for constituting a team of experts to consult with the public to fashion out the best possible ways of managing and using the expected revenue from the oil resource of Ghana.
In a presentation, Mr. Ben Asante of the Ghana National Petroleum Company [GNPC] revealed that Ghana has had oil deposits long before 1967 with the GNPC being the statutory body tasked with the responsibility of researching and exploring for oil.
Mr. Asante disclosed that between 1968 and 1980, exploration works intensified within which period 31 wells were drilled but only three discoveries were made. He said from 1981 to 2000, the government further enacted specific laws to guide oil exploration in the country in order to ensure that the nation derives maximum benefits from its oil resource.
According to him, the GNPC over the past decade focused on the deep water areas for oil. As a result, a couple of multinational oil companies partnered Ghana in search for oil in the western and eastern basins during which significant finds were made.
For example, beside the jubilee field which was discovered in 2000, three other major discoveries were recorded including the Odum, Sankofa and Tweneboah fields which are still at appraisal stages.
In the jubilee field, the government of Ghana has only 23 per cent shareholding while the rest is held by foreign companies. On the whole however, Ghana will benefit from as much as 68 per cent of the total oil revenues as pertained in some provisions of the contracts signed.
The GNPC officer said exploration is often done in phases thus in the phase one which will start in the last quarter of this year, 280 million barrels of oil are estimated to be pumped out from the belly of the water bed with a daily production of 120,000 barrels. It is also estimated that, for every barrel of
oil produced, a 1000 cubic feet of gas can be produced to serve as liquefied petroleum gas for cooking and other uses.
The second phase of production which Mr. Asante said will begin in 2013 will see a daily pump of 240,000 barrels of oil a day representing a double of the phase one figure. He said Ghana’s
oil is of premium quality describing it as sweet crude implying that the composition of sulphur in it is very small.
A special adviser to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Joe Amoaku-Tuffuor, noted that there is a great degree of uncertainty in the oil industry and advised that the country should not put all its hopes on the oil find to provide solutions to development problems.
During an open forum, a journalist Mr. Samuel Abane called for transparency and publication of all contracts signed on behalf of the Ghanaian in order to win public trust and eliminate unnecessary suspicion.
Participants in the consultative forum included chiefs, heads of department, security agencies, non-governmental organisations and the general public. A retired educationist, Mr. Robert Ajene chaired the function.
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