The Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission Ghana, Egbert Faibille Jnr, says oil and gas firms operating in Ghana’s upstream industry have taken the necessary precautionary measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, none of the operators has reported a positive case of COVID-19, as they have taken steps to reduce numbers offshore, while remaining productive.
Speaking to Citi Business News during the unveiling of new solar-powered hand-washing machines procured by the Commission to be used within its premises, Mr. Faibille said even though companies operating on Ghana’s offshore fields have cut down the number of personnel particularly non-essential workers, that will not have a significant impact on production and general output.
“Upstream, so far I am able to report that the companies, such as Tullow, ENI, the Modecs operating the FPSOs and what have you, no report of COVID has come to us. And I think that it’s because the companies have taken the issues seriously and are following the protocols. They’ve gotten a lot of non-essential staff to come on shore, and so I think that the numbers off-shore have gone relatively low just to ensure that COVID does not come offshore.”
“For the companies that are producing oil, there’s no effect on production, production is on course” he noted.
Mr. Faibille said “The Petroleum Commission is in discussions with some oil companies who intend to review their forecasts and projections due to the effects of the pandemic on their operations”.
“The various companies will thus come up with justifications to be sent to the Ministry of Energy for evaluation and final approval,” he added.
