…AS GNPC WRESTLES CONTRACTOR OVER DEAL FOR RIG WORKERS
As the struggle to come to terms with the infamous $2 million missing Saltpond Oil, signals picked by it over the weekend point to another potential scandal in the nation’s oil producing sector.
This time, the location for the scandal is eastward from Saltpond, in the Keta Deep Water area, where Devon Energy/Encana International, a joint American – Canadian concern is to set to drill a deep water well and the stand-off is between the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and Messrs. Menergy Limited, a private oil services and supply company, over who has the right to provide rig workers for the Keta Deep Water drilling operation.
Information reaching the INDEPENDENT from Sekondi indicates that already Menergy Ltd has about 18 workers on the drillship with, 2 more expected to board the drillship, who are bracing themselves to put up a resistance to any attempt to get them off the rig.
A GNPC source however, told the paper that under the Model Petroleum Agreement, GNPC has the right to provide labour for all drilling activities in Ghana.
“The provision of labour by GNPC to the Keta Deep Water drilling is even captured in the agreement between GNPC, the Government of Ghana and Devon/Encana,” the source added.
When the INDEPENDENT contacted GNPC’s Director of Exploration and Production, Mr. Thomas Manu, he said, the matter was still under discussion and declined to comment.
However, the issue is under serious discussion and negotiation for an amicable settlement.
