Minority Leader claims abrogation of Sahara deal..

...but Minister refutes

The Minority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin has stated that having realised belatedly that the "Sahara" contract was not in the national interest, the NPP government has abrogated it.

Speaking in an interview with The Evening News in Accra, Mr Bagbin further disclosed that the government which denounced the expertise of Vitol Oil Company to cart bulk oil from Nigeria to Ghana in the wake of the "Sahara" affair has "clandestinely" gone" gone back to re-engage the company.

He said "Sahara" company was being paid huge sums of moneys by the Ghana government for only facilitating administrative procedures involving oil shipments, which were actually done by vessels of the Tema Oil Refinery. He said the Minority advised at the time that Vitol offered a better deal since it uses its own money to deliver the oil to Ghana and got paid later but the NPP did not appreciate that viewpoint.

Mr Bagbin said Vitol was also committed to establishing oil depots at various places in the country for bulk oil storage, which could for instance provide the petroleum needs of the country during shortages. He said the NPP which flatly rejected the suggestions made in favour of the Vitol contract had now realised its usefulness but had failed to publicly acknowledge that fact.

The Minority NDC last year raised the alarm bells charging that the NPP government awarded the contract to Sahara Energy Resources Limited to lift oil from Nigeria to Ghana without competitive bidding. The NDC said at the time that the contract was not transparent enough and that there were Ghanaian shareholders in the "Sahara" Company.

The Minister of Energy, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, at the time dismissed the charges saying government was saving $7.4 million a year as a result of awarding the contract to Sahara Energy Resources Limited of Nigeria. He said under the terms of the agreement, which last for one year in the first instance, Ghana was offered 90 days credit before paying for each consignment of crude oil delivered to TOR.

Mr Dapaah had stated that the Vitol Contract was signed on 20 December1 2000 to enable it to lift the Nigeria allocation at a fee of 0.95/bbk/dollars for Brass River, and was signed at the time when there was no allocation contract between Ghana and Nigeria.

In his reply to the Minority Leader’s recent assertion, the Honourable Minister said nothing has changed as far as the Sahara contract is concerned. "It is totally untrue for anybody to claim that the contract has been abrogated," he told The Evening News in Accra.

He was reacting to claims by Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader, that the Sahara contract has been abrogated and that the government was clandestinely dealing with Vitol Oil Company in the supply of oil to Ghana. The Minster insisted that, no special arrangement has been entered into with Vitol to ship either crude or refined oil Ghana.

The Kan Dapaah said that, as a policy, the government does not discriminate in the award of contracts. He explained, that Vitol was one of about 20 registered oil traders in Ghana who do business with the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). Vitol never left the scene and from February this year, they have won bid to supply oil, just like any of those registered companies,” the Minister disclosed.

He said, apart from the 30,000 barrels of oil the country takes from Nigeria, additional 15,000 barrels is needed to meet the country’s demand in oil and it is this additional demand the oil trading companies go on tender to supply.

The Minister said even though the NDC government signed contract for the construction of SBM, which will allow bigger vessels to bring in oil, it has been realized that the current facilities would not permit that. Mr Kan-Dapaah also disclosed that current a committee was examining the contract, which was not even conclusive, to find out how feasible it was. “This government is committed in achieving the best for Ghanaians and would therefore, not be moved by cheap propaganda,” he said.