The Minority in Parliament has criticised the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for allegedly claiming credit for recent oil discoveries that, according to them, were made under the previous Akufo-Addo administration.
Addressing a press conference on behalf of the Minority caucus, Collins Adomako-Mensah, Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee, asserted that the Akoma and Eban-1X oil discoveries were made in 2019 and 2021, respectively—both during former President Nana Akufo-Addo’s tenure.
He explained that ENI Ghana, operator of the Cape Three Points (CTP) Block 4, issued formal notices of discovery to the then Ministry of Energy, the Petroleum Commission, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in accordance with the petroleum agreement.
“ENI, as required by the CTP Block 4 Petroleum Agreement, formerly issued two separate notices of discovery to the then Ministry of Energy, the Petroleum Commission, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. These discoveries were also announced or published by sections of the Ghanaian media,” he said.
Mr. Adomako-Mensah expressed concern over what he described as a deliberate effort by the current government to claim credit for discoveries it had no role in.
“The Minority wonders how the Mahama administration, which had nothing to do with the drilling of the Akoma and Eban exploration wells as well as approval of the appraisal programme of the two discoveries, will all of a sudden claim that the results of an Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration-approved appraisal programme that are a result of commerciality are a credit to it.”
He emphasized that under Ghana’s petroleum regime, the responsibility of reporting the outcomes of approved appraisal programmes lies with the contractor or operator, not the government.
“In Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry, it is the contract or operator that has a duty of informing the state of the outcome of any approved appraisal programme. That is what ENI did recently.”
He further accused the Mahama-led administration of using the announcement for political gain.
“The Mahama administration, for self-serving purposes, has sought to covet this normal reporting to a funfair whose cause is attributable to it, even though it is barely seven months in office,” he added.
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