Alex Mould tears into Akufo-Addo over Aker Energy deal

A former Chief Executive Officer at the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC), Alex Mould, says the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led-administration has bestowed massive historical damage on Ghana’s oil and gas industry – a situation which could have far-reaching consequences on the Ghanaian economy.

He says the damage done to the sector by government is incomparable with that of the shambolic agreement with Power Distribution Service (PDS), which attracted a storm of criticism from industry watchers.

Mr Mould in a post on his Facebook timeline stated that there is a radical political attack on Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector which could have a serious implication for the future of Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry.

He said the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, rushed the Aker Energy petroleum amendments to approve significant changes to the upstream petroleum sector without following due process.

The said agreement was signed between the government of the Republic of Ghana, Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) and Aker Energy Ghana Limited.

“I hinted that government was preparing to pass amendments to the existing regulations and laws governing the upstream petroleum sector provided Aker Energy agreed to the NPP Government’s demands. It is alleged that Government among other demands, asked Aker Energy to ensure the usage of only designated/chosen local partners (mainly controlled by people associated with the leadership of the NPP), even if these local partners are not qualified or even if these foreign oil services companies have already chosen their local partners,” parts of his post read.

Alex Mould stated further that at a recent Oil and Gas Conference held at the University of East London in the United Kingdom, he pointed out to the Energy Minister, John Peter Amewu, not approve Aker Energy’s Plan of Development (PoD) which is in relation to the Pecan oil field, because it would rob Ghana of billions of United State Dollars both immediately and over the next 30 years.

According to him, the Minister subsequently assured Ghanaians that he [John Peter Amewu] would not give the Aker Energy’s PoD (which was lying on his table) that opportunity.

Read Alex Mould's full post below