Experts disagree on GNPC’s relocation
Some industry players have kicked against the proposed relocation of the head office of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to the Western Region by the new government, explaining that the move will not bring any significant development to the region.
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Instead, they are advocating the establishment of subsidiary offices in the regions where oil will be discovered, to report to the GNPC headquarters in Accra.
The Head of Policy at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Dr Ishmael Ackah, in an interview said instead of relocating GNPC, the new government must, in the short run, establish operations offices in Takoradi and the Volta Region.
While the regional office will take care of the country’s oil finds in the Western Region, the one in the Volta Region will coordinate hydrocarbon activities in that region, where oil productions are scheduled to start in the Voltaian Basin.
“This should be a national strategy, so that in future when oil is discovered in other regions, such as the Volta and Northern regions, they won't also demand relocation of GNPC, and therefore prevent regional frictions,” he stated.
A member of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), the committee with oversight responsibility of the management of the country’s oil revenues, Dr Steve Manteaw, said the move wouldn’t bring many gains to the region as it only sought to make a political statement.
“Such a move will have the objective of making a political statement and appeasing a small group of people. It will only be symbolic. No new jobs will be created for the region because it is the same people working in Accra that will continue working there. We have all the other partners; Tullow, Kosmos and the rest operating their head offices from Accra. There are some benefits that come with being close to the ministry and the regulator and GNPC must also enjoy the same benefits,” he noted.
No significant benefits
An Economist, Dr John Gatsi, in a separate interview said, “We cannot measure any significant benefit it may bring to the people of Takoradi. So for you to be driven by the fact that we are mining the resource in the region and because of that, GNPC should be relocated from Accra to the Western Region defeats the constitutional definition of natural resources and its owners in the country.”
He added that exploration, development and production were expected to take place in other regions, quizzing that what then would happen if oil was discovered in other regions.
“When that happens, are you going to bring GNPC to that region. Today you have found oil in the Western Region, tomorrow you might even find oil in greater quantities in the Ashanti Region, will you because of that relocate it from Western to Ashanti Region?” he asked.
He added, “I think that the relocation of GNPC will not bring any significant benefit to the people of Ghana who are actually the owners of the resource. It does not necessarily mean it will solve unemployment problems in the Western Region.”
Need to decentralise
Dr Ackah said there was the need to put in place a proper decentralisation strategy that would see the Western Region becoming the oil capital of Ghana.
“I think the bigger picture is getting Western Region to become the oil hub; for instance, investments in international airport and other infrastructure that will entice private oil-related firms to relocate their headquarters. There should be an incentive for all new companies that will be given licences to locate their headquarters in Takoradi,” he said.
He added that becoming the oil hub was also important so that the oil and gas sector would create linkages to other sectors and help build the local economy.
“It will also help in value addition such as refineries and gas-related companies which will create jobs and help Ghana's development,” he added.
What Western Region needs
Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the Western Region, the indigenes have complained about the lack of their fair share of the country’s revenues, and also about the fact that the oil production has negatively affected their livelihood, which is fishing.
According to Dr Manteaw, what the region needed was an increased share of oil revenues to aid the growth of the region and not the relocation of the head office of the national oil company.
“What the Western Region really needs is not a headquarters but an increased share of revenue derived from the oil and gas sector, which will be the means to achieving increased development for the people. So we need more allocation of resources to the region,” he noted.