Status of Recommendations
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| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 2. Investment of the Ghana Petroleum Funds(Refer to 2012 PIAC Annual Report) | ||||
| The investment of the GPFs has not as yet yielded high returns, which is of great concern to the PIAC since a continuation of this trend is likely to slow the growth of the Funds, especially the GHF | The Government must release the Policy and Guidelines to assist the Fund Managers to better manage these funds as required by the PRMA, 2011 | Investment Advisory Committee &Ministry of Finance | Recommendation is yet to be fully implemented | The PIAC in its 2013 Semi-Annual Report urged the MoF and the IAC to expedite action on this recommendation. The Minister acknowledged this fact (of low returns on investment) in the 2014 Budget but very little appears to have done about it. |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 3. Enactment of Regulations (Refer to 2012 PIAC Annual Report) | ||||
| After three years of the coming into force of Act 815, the regulations that will help with the implementation of the law are long overdue | The PIAC calls for expedited action to be taken to complete the drafting of the regulations for the approval of Parliament. | Ministry of Finance | The regulations are now being developed. | The process towards the development of the Regulations has resumed following its suspension during the amendment of the PRMA. |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 1. Legislation on funding for the PIAC (Refer to 2011 PIAC Annual Report) | ||||
| There is no provision in Act 815 for the funding of the PIAC and the Petroleum Commission. | A section of the Act must be introduced to cater for the funding of the PIAC and the Petroleum Commission to enable them carry out their respective mandates | Ministry of Finance | Section 57 of the PRMA amended and provides for the Committees budget to be taken directly from the ABFA | Government must ensure prompt and timely release of the PIAC budgetary allocation upon request |
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| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 4. SOPCL Reporting (Refer to 2012 PIAC Semi-Annual Report) | ||||
| SOPCL has not been reporting transactions in the right format as is being done by the Jubilee partners | The quantity of crude oil lifted from the Saltpond fields and their sales price should be provided in the public reports in the right format to facilitate monitoring of petroleum receipts | Saltpond Offshore Producing Co. Ltd (SOPCL) | SOPCL submitted a copy of its Unaudited account for 2013, 2014 and the first half of 2015 to PIAC which provided information on liftings and sales prices, among other things. | There are still some discrepancies in the figure produced by SOPCL vis-à-vis those provided by the MoF and GNPC. Further clarification is being sought. |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 5. Determination of Benchmark Revenues (Key Finding 5 of 2013 Annual Report) | ||||
| Actual petroleum revenue exceeded projected revenues by nearly 46%. This raises further questions about the determination of the Benchmark Revenue. | The MoF and other stakeholders should be supported and encouraged to attain higher accuracy in price forecasting. Also closer attention must be paid to the assumptions that go into the determination of the Benchmark Revenue. | MoF/GRA/BOG | Section 17 of the PRMA has been amended to allow the Minister of Finance to vary the Benchmark revenue as and when necessary within any financial year. | |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 6. Expenditure under Capacity Building (Key Finding 14 of 2013 Annual Report) | ||||
| The Capacity Building priority area appears to be a category under which certain expenditure items which may not be related to capacity building have been classified. | The government should endeavour to focus its expenditure under the capacity building priority area on interventions that will directly enhance the capacity and capabilities of Ghanaians to play a bigger role in the emerging oil and gas industry | Ministry of Finance | There was no expenditure in this priority area because the only project – SME Projects Incubation Facility – earmarked for implementation in 2014 at an estimated cost of GH￠59.57 million (US$27.08 million) was not started due to the non-disbursement of the CDB component. | The decision to focus on one project in 2014 is commendable even though the project never got started. |
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| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 7. Allocation of ABFA (Key Finding 15 of the 2013 -Annual Report) | ||||
| An amount of GH¢72.55 million was reported to have been paid to the GNGC. However, the GNGC said they did not receive the said amount. Another GH¢13.27 million could not be linked directly to any project | The MoF should provide details of how an amount of GH￠85.82 million (made up of GHC72.55 million and GHC13.27 million) allocated to the ‘expenditure and amortisation of loans for oil and gas infrastructure’ priority area from the 2013 ABFA was utilised | Ministry of Finance | The MoF has explained that no payment was made to the GNGC in 2013 contrary to what had been reported in 2013 and that the entire GH¢137.02 million allocated to the Amortisation Priority areas was disbursed as matching fund for the CDB facility. The wrong description of the projects in the initial list of the projects given to PIAC was consequently corrected in the 2014 Reconciliation Report. | PIAC is satisfied with the explanation given but urges the MoF to ensure that information released to Committee is accurate and devoid of errors |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 8. Ghana Petroleum Funds (Refer to 2013 Semi-Annual Report) | ||||
| There are discrepancies in the figures reported by the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on the Ghana Petroleum Funds. | There is the need for reconciliation by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana to ensure that the difference in the Ghana Petroleum Funds is accounted for in the ensuing period. | MoF/GRA/BOG | The end of year figures from the reports of the two organizations is in agreement. | No Further Comment |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 9. Thin Spreading of ABFA (See Key conclusions on the analysis of ABFA allocation in the 2013 -Annual Report) | ||||
| ABFA funds stretched thinly over a wide range of projects thereby limiting its developmental impacts on the economy. | The GOG should conduct an immediate evaluation of the effectiveness and impacts of all the projects and programmes that have been funded with revenues from the petroleum sector to help inform the citizenry and also provide the basis for spending allocations in the next priority area review period. The GOG should also prioritise and provide the necessary resources for the formulation of a non-partisan long-term National Development Plan to guide the efficient and effective utilisation of petroleum revenue | Ministry of Finance | In 2016 and 2017, the number of projects funded from the ABFA has been substantially reduced (see copies of 2016 and 2017 reports)in response to this recommendation. | It is very important that a proper evaluation of the ABFA funded projects is carried out as soon as possible to inform the prioritisation of the ABFA funding in subsequent years. |
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| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 10. SOPCL Lifting Figures (Key Finding 8 of 2014 Annual Report) | ||||
| Discrepancies in the crude oil production figures provided by SOPCL and the MoF/GNPC. SOPCL figures suggested an increase in production whereas MoF/GNPC indicated otherwise | The SOPCL and the MoF/GNPC must resolve the discrepancies in the production and lifting figures from the Saltpond field so as to help determine the actual royalties that ought to have been paid as well as establishing the true performance/state of affairs at the Saltpond field. | SOPCL, MoF/GNPC | No significant steps taken so far as there continues to be discrepancies in figures reported by SOPCL and the GNPC/MOF | |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 11. Deciding the Economic Viability of Saltpond Field (See Recommendation of 3 of 2014 Annual Report) | ||||
| Dwindling crude oil production volumes from the Saltpond field coupled with rapidly falling global crude prices rendering the continuous operation of the Saltpond Field not viable | Urgent need for a critical appraisal of the viability of the continuous operation of the Saltpond field against the backdrop of low crude oil price. With crude oil price projected to hover around US$52 in 2015, the business case for operating the Saltpond field in 2015 has been further weakened considering that fact the oilfield produced a barrel of crude oil at a costs US$31.22 in 2014. | GNPC / Ministry of Finance | Available information from GNPC indicates that the Saltpond Field is being decommissioned thereby bringing to an end oil production from the Ghana’s first commercial field. | |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 12. Non-Payment of Surface Rental by Oranto/Stone Energy (Finding 13 of 2014 Annual Report) | ||||
| Oranto/Stone Energy yet to honour an outstanding surface rental invoice of US$67,438.36 since February 2013 | GRA to compel Oranto/Stone Energy to pay outstanding invoice with applicable penalties for the period during which they have been in default. | GRA | Invoice still outstanding as at December 2015 | |
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| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 16. Non-Payment of Receipts from the Sale of Wet and Lean Gas to GNGC and VRA respectively (See 2015 Semi-Annual Report | ||||
| VRA indebted to GNGC to the tune of US$103.03 in respect of lean gas supplied by GNGC while GNGC’s indebtedness to GNPC in respect of gas exports stood at US32.60 million | All outstanding receivables in respect of lean gas sold should be paid as a matter of urgency so as to guard against the GNGC falling into the never-ending cycle of indebtedness prevalent in the power sector. GNGC must also ensure prompt payment to GNPC in respect of gas exports. | GNPC, GNGC and VRA | Very little done. VRA’s indebtedness to GNGC had increased by over 100% between June and December 2015 from US$103.03 to US$227.78 with GNGC’s debts owed GNPC increasing by a similar magnitude (from US$32.60 million to US$79.06 million) over the same period. Only US$553,815 out of expected gas proceeds of US$79.06 (representing | Something has to be done immediately to prevent debts owed by VRA and GNGC to GNGC and GNPC respectively from getting to unsustainable levels. |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 17. Using ABFA funds to build capacity in Oil and Gas Sector (Recommendation 6 of 2015 Semi-Annual Report) | ||||
| Little to no capacity being built in the oil and gas sector using ABFA funds. | Serious and urgent attention must be paid to the building of capacity in the oil and gas sector so as to help ensure the realisation of the local content targets set out in the Local Content Policy | GNPC / Ministry of Finance | The situation remains the same as the end of 2015. | Only 3.25% (GH¢8.93 million) of GH¢274.97 million allocated tocapacity building from the ABFA accounts since 2011 has gone to build direct capacity in the oil and gas sector |
| Finding | Recommendation | Responsibility | Status | Comments |
| 18. VRA’s indebtedness to GNGC (Recommendation 7 of 2015 Annual Report) | ||||
| VRA indebted to GNGC to the tune of US$103.03 in respect of lean gas supplied by GNGC while GNGC’s indebtedness to GNPC in respect of gas exports stood at US32.60 million. | All outstanding receivables in respect of lean gas sold should be paid as a matter of urgency so as to guard against the GNGC falling into the never-ending cycle of indebtedness prevalent in the power sector. GNGC must also ensure prompt payment to GNPC in respect of gas exports. | GNPC, GNGC and VRA | Very little done. Only US$553,815 out of expected gas proceeds of US$79.06 (representing 0.7%) was paid into the PHF. | Something has to be done immediately to prevent debts owed by VRA and GNGC to GNGC and GNPC respectively from getting to unsustainable levels. |
