According to the Commission, out of about 17 oil blocks sold between 2013 and 2016, 13 of the blocks still exist without any exploration activity making the country lose huge investments in the sector.
Answering questions on the development at a press briefing, Chief Executive of the Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibile Junior disclosed that the Commission will soon recommend to the Ministry of Energy to sanction or revoke the licenses of owners of these oil blocks by December this year.
“We have realized that most of the oil blocks have become dormant for some time now contrary to the agreements signed between the investors and the government of Ghana.
The Commission has held series of meetings with some of these owners and they requested for some ample time to get back on the blocks, as I speak that ample time has elapsed so very soon we will be making a recommendation” Egbert Faibile Junior said.
Review of petroleum deals
The quest for action to be taken follows the call from the President, Nana Akufo-Addo that some oil blocks agreements need to be reviewed.
To accelerate further exploration activity, President Akufo-Addo has charged the Ministry of Energy to review existing operations in the industry, with the view to determining oil fields that are suboptimal. The review is also to cover Petroleum Agreements that are dormant.
“The Energy Ministry will engage with the operators, after the review, on the adoption of best methods for increasing oil recovery rate.
For Petroleum Agreements that are dormant, the Ministry will encourage the operators to consider inviting stronger partners to join them or risk the termination of these Petroleum Agreements, should they persist in failing to meet their minimum work obligations,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.
Blueprint
In seeking to increase Ghana’s oil reserves and improve on oil and gas production, Cabinet is expected to soon approve a ‘Blueprint and Roadmap for Accelerated Oil and Gas Exploration and Development’, which is based on a new strategy of aggressive exploration.
“The strategy seeks to build synergies with the domestic downstream petroleum sector; to increase Ghanaian participation in the oil industry, and to accelerate the pace of institutional capacity development to manage our oil and gas resources efficiently,” President Akufo-Addo said