Mr Kweku Awotwi, Managing Director, Tullow Oil Ghana, and Executive Vice President, Tullow Oil PLC In its quest to ramp up oil production in the country, the government is taking steps to amend two petroleum laws to enable it to achieve that objective.
The laws, the Exploration and Production Act, 2016 (Act 919) and the Petroleum Exploration and Production General Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2359), are to be reviewed to give oil-producing companies the opportunity to develop more wells within their operational fields to increase the country’s production of the commodity.
Subsequently, a bill is scheduled to be laid before Parliament this month to give legal backing to the initiative.
The Executive Vice-President of Tullow Ghana, Mr Kweku Awotwi, dropped the hint when his company took its turn at the Facts Behind the Figures Series on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in Accra yesterday.
Tullow and other oil companies have had series of engagements with the government to enable them to have the permit to explore new fields within their existing development and producing areas (DPA).
“There is a broad agreement that if we are able to access the other parts of our agreements, it will be positive for us at Tullow and the country.
“We are made to understand that next month, there is going to be a Bill in Parliament to give us access to some of those areas,” he said, while responding to a question on an update on their proposal to the government in that regard.
A passage of the bill will subsequently result in an increase in oil activities and productivity which will translate into more revenues for the government as well as opportunities for jobs.
Amending the law
The Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 Act 919 applies to petroleum activities within the jurisdiction of Ghana, including activities in, under and upon its territorial land, inland waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and its continental shelf.
The act exists to provide for and ensure safe, secure, sustainable and efficient petroleum activities and utilisation for the benefit and welfare of the people of Ghana.Mr Awotwi explained that the current law did not make provision for oil companies to produce more within their existing DPA.He reiterated that the opportunities in the near fields were huge and getting access would require an amendment to the existing law, adding that significant progress had been made following engagements with the government in that direction.“The current law does […]
