The Energy Ministry after thorough assessments will revoke the operating licenses of Oil Exploration Companies who do not meet the necessary obligations set down by the Ministry.
This is according to the Head of Communications at the Ministry, Nana Damaoh.
For instance, if a company does not meet the minimum work program or the minimum work spent, which is the minimum amount of money supposed to be spent on a prescribed oil block within a given period of time, it cannot renew its license.
Nana Damoah in an interview with Citi News says most of the companies who might lose their licenses and oil blocks by the end of the year have already been informed.
“For those who have not been able to live by the obligations of the petroleum agreement, we will explore the option of taking away the block according to the default [agreement], but first of all, we need to review and ensure that all the legal basis for taking away these blocks have been satisfied.”
“There are two major criteria they have to satisfy which is the minimum work programme and the minimum work spent, so if your petroleum agreement states that you are supposed to spend 200 million dollars within a spate of two years and you have not reached that 200 million dollars, the company itself is inherently aware that it is flouting those rules.”
The Energy Minister also made a similar announcement, adding that processes leading to revocation had already began.
He however failed to mention the names of the companies that may be losing their license and their blocks.
Basic obligations the said oil exploration companies have flouted include non-payment of annual ground rent and failure to comply with exploration rules set by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Ghana Petroleum Commission.
