Government says it fully backs the decision by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, GNPC, to acquire stakes in Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited.
This is according to the Energy Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh.
The 1.65 billion loan billion dollar deal has been met with stiff opposition from civil society organizations who say the deal is not in the best interest of the country.
However, GNPC says it’s the best deal for the country.
But speaking at the swearing in of the reconstituted Board of the GNPC in Accra, Energy Minister, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh says government is fully behind the GNPC.
“The government is going to support you 100 percent in this direction of local content and the promotion of our petroleum resources in the acquisition of shares in some petroleum. It is not only Aker.
“I do know there is the intention to go into Aker Energy, there is an intention to go into AGM, there is an intention to go into Springfield and there is also an intention to go into the Jubilee Fields and the Ten fields to acquire not only significant or more shares but more experience in the exploration of agenda of GNPC,” he said.
It will be recalled that, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Corporation, Dr. K.K. Sarpong has said he will ensure that the deal goes through.
He maintained that he personally entered into the agreement after he was convinced that the deal when brokered will be beneficial because the partnership between GNPC and the other partners is crucial to Ghana’s oil and energy space.
“I don’t think that Aker Energy and AGM are in a hurry to leave. If you look at the time profile set for this energy transition – that is the movement from fossil fuels to renewables, we are talking about a 30-year period to get to that level. It is a long way to go, so over time you will see that there is the movement of investment into the extraction and production of fossil fuel and shift capital to fossil fuel. Are they telling us, we should leave our oil in the soil, I think there is hypocrisy there.”
“Indeed, the Western Countries have extracted oil in their backyard and our fields, and they want us to leave ours there. This is something that, as someone from a developing country, I find it very difficult to accept. It is this realization and kind of position which dawned on me which really necessitated my push for this agenda. All that I am saying is that within this time frame, production should be going on now and if they shift investment from us, it means we cannot develop our fields and our oil will remain in the soil”, he added.
