Page 13 - AfrOil Week 40 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

While Akyea acknowledged that administrative minister.
processes may not have been followed in terms The minority’s claim came on the back of a
of lodging the money in the Petroleum Hold- semi-annual report by the Public Interest and
ing Fund (PHF), Capital FM reports, he said the Accountability Committee (PIAC), a statutory
state suffered no damages by the upfront pay- body, which accused the government of not pay-
ment of the loan taken by JOHL. ing the revenue into the PHF in accordance with
On September 29, minority lawmakers appropriate laws.
issued a press release questioning why the gov- “[There] was an opinion from the attorney
ernment had allegedly repatriated the $100.7mn general to the effect that they needn’t place the
oil revenue to the Cayman Islands, “especially money in that account for the simple reason
at a time when the nation is struggling to raise that there’s a 7% equity acquisition in the TEN
much-needed revenues for critical expenditure”. and Jubilee fields by GNPC Subsidiary and
The statement continued: “The decision by they didn’t have the money, so the Ministry of
the current NPP Government to transfer rev- Finance [lent] them the money so they do this
enues accruing from about 944,164 barrels of acquisition; they are trying to improve the gov-
crude lifting in the Jubilee and TEN fields to a ernmental stakes in these petroleum blocks,”
company established in a safe haven without Akyea said in an interview with Class FM on
Parliamentary approval, amounts to a gross October 3.
violation of the Petroleum Revenue Manage- “When they [GNPC Subsidiaries] took the
ment Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815) and Pub- loan, they were unable to pay, so, they used the
lic Financial Management Act (Act 921). The petroleum receipts due them to settle it. So, the
Minority is very much alarmed that, contrary to Ministry of Finance took the money and paid
requirements of the PRMA, revenues accruing for the loan upfront”, he said. “The whole prob-
from the nation’s oil fields are not being paid into lem is simple: that the sheer fact that the money
the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF), which has was not lodged in the PHF does not mean the
been confirmed in the 2022 semi-annual report money has been spirited away or stolen ... It’s
on petroleum receipts by the Public Interest and all a balancing account but when push it to the
Accountability Committee (PIAC).” political dimension that some money has been
Former President John Mahama is among spirited away, it leaves much to be desired.”
those who have raised red flags over the trans- Akyea stated further that the money was
action and is calling on Finance Minister Ken equivalent to the 7% equity stake that the gov-
Ofori-Atta to refund the money to the Petro- ernment, through the GNPC subsidiary, had
leum Fund. Referencing portions of the Petro- acquired.
leum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), “And if the money was not so lodged in the
Mahama said the law is clear that all such rev- PHF but it is shown that, indeed, the shares have
enue due to the country must be accounted for been acquired, and the shares have been paid
by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and for, how can that be anything to undermine this
not used without authorisation by the finance country, financially?” he said. ™

NUPRC gears up to launch auctions

for gas flaring reduction contracts

NIGERIA THE Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory quoted in the statement as saying that this year’s
Commission (NUPRC) said on October 2 that bidding contest would be open to new bidders
it was gearing up to launch a new round of auc- and also to companies that had participated in
tions for the capture and sale of associated gas. the last round of auctions. To this end, he said,
In a statement, NUPRC said that the bid- the commission’s notice of programme relaunch
ding contest, which falls within the framework also invites interested parties to respond to a
of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation request for qualification (RFQ).
Programme (NGFCP), would begin in the Komolafe did not say whether Abuja was
near future. This will mark the country’s return specifically looking to award future gas contracts
to a process that was stymied by the coronavi- to local companies. He did note, though, that the
rus (COVID-19) pandemic, as Nigeria’s gov- Nigerian government hoped to select winners
ernment approved 200 bids for associated gas and sign contracts before the end of the year.
contracts in 2020 but did not finalise any deals “The auction process has been streamlined to
because of roadblocks stemming from global enable an accelerated delivery schedule for this
disease outbreaks. exercise, with the announcement of winners
Gbenga Komolafe, the CEO of NUPRC, was planned for December 2022,” he said.

Week 40 06•October•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13