Exit of ExxonMobil: Oil sector strong, formidable - Dormaa East MP
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Mr Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, has said Ghana’s oil industry remains solid and formidable despite the exit of ExxonMobil.
“The longer-term outlook for Ghana’s crude oil is positive, based on the expectation for continued field developments in the offshore basins,” he stated.
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In an interaction in Parliament to respond to the Minority’s claims that the exit of ExxonMobil was as a result of lack of confidence in the government, Mr Twum Barimah said Ghanaians and the investment community had faith and confidence in President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government to deliver.
“Exxon exited based on their financial strategy they put in place after the COVID-19 challenges. They are, therefore, prioritising fields where they have advantage of favourable cost environment while preserving value; that is why they are moving.
“They want to concentrate on areas where they are already doing production. Clearly, it’s based on the financial capacity, not President Akufo-Addo’s government,” he said.
He quoted the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, as saying, “Using the strength of our balance sheet to invest through the cycle is a key element of our strategy. We are taking advantage of a favourable cost environment and investing in advantaged projects — underpinned by the long-term fundamentals of growing demand. The strength of our portfolio and our financial capacity enable us to continuously evaluate our priorities and the pace of investments while preserving value, which is critical in current market conditions and near decade-low commodity prices and margins.”
Propaganda
Mr Twum Barimah noted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was good at propaganda and, therefore, urged Ghanaians to ignore the party.
“They should bear in mind that the President Akufo-Addo government negotiated the AMERI deal to the benefit of the people of Ghana. The AMERI renegotiated and enhanced deal saved Ghana as much as $51 million,” he stated.
Double production
Mr Twum Barimah said research had revealed that Ghana’s oil production would more than double over the next four years.
“New discoveries by Norwegian start-up Aker on the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block could help production rise from a little less than 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 420,000bpd by 2023,” he said.
He said Ghana’s oil and gas sector was helping position the country among the continent’s fastest-growing economies.
“Ghana’s oil and gas industry has grown in size and in activity from a long period of zero rig to four rigs working at the same time to determine the potential of our basins.
“In terms of the fiscal impact, we have also seen growth from 1,400bpd in 2009/2010 to 214,000bpd in 2019. Many of our people have also been impacted through employment opportunities and service contracts,” he stated.