Ghana has blocked Norwegian oil and gas firm, Aker Energy, from using an old FPSO it acquired for US$35 million over ten years ago for the Pecan Field development offshore the West African nation.
The oil firm wanted to charge Ghana US$1.7 billion for ten years.
This means annually, Ghana would pay US$170 million.
The figure was contained in the Plan of Development (PoD) submitted by Aker Energy to Ghana’s Ministry of Energy a few weeks ago.
However, the cost of the FPSO struck the Energy Ministry and rejected it.
According to sources within the Energy Ministry, the sector Minister indicated to Aker Energy’s CEO, Kadijah Amoah, that the country could not afford the expensive FPSO and directed them to rather go to the market and open a tender for FPSO that is more competitive.
Last week, the CEO of Aker Energy, Kadijah Amoah, and some officials were at the ministry to submit their revised PoD.
Checks from the ministry indicated that Aker Energy CEO told the Minister that they had addressed all the issues raised.
According to the source, the Ministry is currently studying the document to confirm if all the issues had been addressed as stated by the CEO.
The price of the FPSO had been the subject of concern by Civil Society Groups working in the extractive sector, anti-corruption and good governance.
In a post sighted on Facebook, Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh wrote: “Yesterday, Officials of Aker Energy were at the Ministry of Energy to submit an updated Plan of Development (PoD) in respect of the Pecan Field as a result of a review of the one submitted on 14tb April 2023.
“The Ministry of Energy remains committed to the judicious exploitation of our hydrocarbon resources and will continue to ensure sound investor relations,” his post concluded.
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