According to Dr. Opoku Prempeh, it was revealed during one of their meetings in South Africa that it is actually the [Board] Chairman of GNPC who has been pushing for PetroSA to pre-empt the Ghana stake, which is a posture that clearly undermines government policy.
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PetroSA deal scandalous as 29 CSOs call for the head of Freddie Blay and GNPC CEO
The Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Freddie Blay is seeking to offload some of Ghana's oil interests to the South African National Company (PetroSA) despite the rejection by the Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who has described the whole process as scandalous and a complete absurdity.
Freddie Blay, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah and Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh
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"…It is quiet for the Chairman to be undermining both the viability of GNPC and also the policy objectives of improving government revenue from petroleum, especially in the context of the energy transition," Dr. Opoku Prempeh in a letter to the Jubilee House stated.
GNPC Head office
Pulse Ghana
The GNPC is inviting PetroSA, a South African National Oil Company, to purchase 50% of the 7% interest recently acquired by the Government of Ghana from Anadarko West Cape Three Points Company (WCTPC).
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The GNPC is also proposing an equal split of the Deep Water Tano (DWT) portion, which would decrease the government’s interest.
Meanwhile, the CSO Coalition on Extractive Governance is demanding the immediate removal of Freddie Blay and its Chief Executive Officer, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah.
Freddie Blay
Pulse Ghana
The demand for their removal comes in light of GNPC's intention to sell 50% stakes in Jubilee Holdings Limited (JOHL) to PetroSA, despite the substantial revenue potential this interest holds for the state.
The Coordinator for the Economic Governance Platform, Abdul Karim Mohammed addressing the press on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, said the continuous presence of these individuals, closely associated with petroleum operations, poses significant risks to Ghana's interests.
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Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah, GNPC CEO
Pulse Ghana
The CSOs made up of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC), the Imani Centre for Policy and Education, and 25 others.
"We demand the immediate removal of GNPC's CEO, Opoku Ahweneeh Danquah and the Board Chairman, Freddie W. Blay from their respective positions as they have become a threat to Ghana's interest in the petroleum sector," Mohammed said.
He explained that Dr. Opoku Prempeh is against a decision by Freddie Blay for offering interest in Ghana's oil fields to PetroSA.
Matthew Opoku Prempeh
Pulse Ghana
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Blay in his capacity as the GNPC Board Chairman is said to have written to PetroSA offering it an equal split in the interest held by GNPC's subsidiary Jubilee Oil Holdings Ltd.
It is a viable field, and it is giving us a lot of money if we allow this to go forward. What it means is that PetroSa will be entitled to 50 percent of the earnings from the field, whereas they have not had any role in developing the field to the point where it is now viable.
He added: "The information we have is that the Minister for Energy has objected to this transaction but the Chairman of GNPC Board is pushing this transaction to the extent that the Minister of Energy had written to the Jubilee House over this transaction."
The group also demanded swift political action to address two major developments in the country's petroleum sector.
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