Energy Minister inaugurates 6-member Petroleum Commission board

The Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko, has inaugurated a six-member board for the Petroleum Commission. The board is chaired by Stephen Abankwah Sekyere, the Managing Director of Prudential Bank.

The members are Egbert Faibille, Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Professor Daniel Aseidu, Professor of Geology at the University of Ghana, Dr. Jemima Nunoo of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Mahama Salifu of Salifu and Majeed Chambers and Mohammed Hardi Tufeiru, the Member of Parliament for Nantong Constituency.

Energy Minister Agyarko charged the board to ensure proper regularization in the petroleum sector. According to him, there are a lot of regulatory gaps in the sector which do not allow the Commission to carry out its mandate.

“Most of the legislation is saddled with conflicting mandates creating unnecessary rigidities among sector institutions. “This frustrates the industry players and also stifles foreign direct investment,” he said.

He added: “The Commission has made inputs into a memo which will be forwarded to cabinet by the Ministry of Energy on this matter. The board is required to follow up and ensure that issues are addressed.” Mr Sekyere assured the state of the board’s highest level of cooperation and also institute measures to attract more commercial investments into the petroleum sector.