[ 2016-08-14 ]

GNPC CEO, Alex Mould

GNPC may exceed $30 million loan cap if… – ACEP
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, GNPC may
be granted permission, where necessary, to borrow
above the 30 million dollars cap if the investment
will be to the benefit of the country.

That is the position of the African Centre for
Energy Policy, ACEP.

The newly passed Petroleum Exploration and
Production Bill makes it necessary for the GNPC to
seek Parliamentary approval if it intends to
borrow above 30 million dollars.

This comes on the back of calls for the GNPC to be
regulated in the provision of guarantees for some
major oil deals which continue to impact on its
operations.

Though the Executive Director of ACEP, Dr.
Mohammed Amin Andam admits that the 30 million
dollars window may not be enough for oil
operations, he is confident the check will protect
the national purse.

“I think that 30 million dollars is not enough
for operations relating to oil exploration,
development and production. That is why I think
that it is important that for long term
investments such as exploration investments,
development and production, you do not just allow
GNPC to go borrowing as much as it wants because
that industry is risky and to the extent that they
can borrow and Ghanaians will bear the continuous
liability if GNPC defaults or unable to make
returns on the investment made,” he stated.

GNPC has received criticisms for a number of loan
agreements and guarantees over the years.

But the corporation has on almost all occasions
justified any of such decisions, insisting that
they are necessary to deepen GNPC’s scope in the
country’s oil and gas sector.

For instance in November 2014, the CEO of GNPC,
Alex Mould defended a 700 million dollars facility
it secured from the Deutshe Bank of Germany.

This was in the face of criticisms from civil
society groups and a member of the opposition NPP,
Gabby Otchere Darko who claimed that the
corporation was undertaking the deal without
Parliamentary approval.

Also in May 2016, the Member of Parliament for
Efutu, Alex Afenyo Markin suggested that
Parliament scrutinizes the GNPC’s decision to
provide 100 million dollars guarantee to owners of
the Karpower barge.

This also came at a time that Parliament had
demanded that managers of GNPC be made to answer
some questions on the floor of the House when its
2016 budget was presented for approval.

In a sharp rebuttal, CEO of GNPC, Alex Mould
maintained that the guarantee was actually in line
with their mandate as an enabler of the petroleum
industry in Ghana.

“The GNPC is not over extended. GNPC is well
capitalized and GNPC has a mandate to ensure that
it is an enabler in the industry especially for
its mandate of disposing the petroleum it
generated from the ground,” he stated in an
exclusive interview with Bernard Avle.

Source - citifmonline.com

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