'Increasing Ghana’s oil and gas reserves is my priority' - GNPC CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah, has said he remains committed to building and sustaining a robust state petroleum entity and won't be distracted by few dissenting elements within the system.

His statement was in a response to a question that he was asked regarding a series of alleged plots to tarnish his image, cause harm to him and defame GNPC’s Board members.

He stated that he is not distracted by the actions of a few sour elements opposing constructive change, but rather is purely focused on increasing Ghana’s oil and gas reserves to ensure that higher revenues are generated for the state.

It will be recalled a while back that after the CEO’s appointment, a plethora of news stories surfaced, and the Board, Senior Management and staff at GNPC had to officially dismiss the purported fake news among other falsities that claimed disunity and mayhem at GNPC. In what appeared to be unfounded allegations, investigations revealed that GNPC’s Board and Staff have gotten used to such attacks and undoubtedly continued to fully support their CEO, citing the positive impact he is bringing to the Corporation.

Other well-placed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity in response to the said plot and media attack pointed out that the GNPC CEO since assumption of office in April 2022 has proven to be a sterling team player and has operated within the laws and corporate governance rules of the national oil company of Ghana.

This seems to be the right direction taken by GNPC, especially at a time when the government has urged Ghanaian Corporations to muster up all efforts to increase revenues for the country considering the current economic situation West Africa Sub-Region finds itself in now, due to the external economic and global geopolitical shocks.

It is a well-known fact within the corporation, the new CEO has assembled the brightest and best engineering minds who currently spend day and night strategizing on how to ensure that production is optimized and increased from the three major existing producing fields – Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa Gye Nyame; and also ensuring other developing fields get to first oil" a GNPC manager said.

The CEO’s flagship project which he has touted as “for Ghanaians and by Ghanaians” is the Voltaian Basin Project, an onshore prospect. GNPC plans to spud it’s first oil and gas well in the basin next year, to ensure that the country’s reserves are not stranded in an era of the “Energy Transition” to renewables. Mr. Danquah is also continuing to strike strategic alliances with other national oil companies (there are currently progressive talks with the national oil companies of Algeria and Nigeria) to improve on building Ghana’s technical capabilities.

Some employees indicated that Mr. Danquah has particularly operated an open-door policy, adding that the vibrant CEO has significantly boosted inter-personal and working relations among senior management and the rest of the staff of the company.

Furthermore, independent checks conducted by the media have determined that Mr. Danquah is on top of affairs at the GNPC after being appointed to the position by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to serve Ghana with excellence.

Consequently, the Board of Directors at the Corporation has thus far given a resounding testament to the tenure of Mr. Danquah.

The Board have further denied claims that the Public Services Commission did not approve the appointment of Mr. Danquah as the substantive CEO of GNPC. In an earlier press statement, the Board stated that “those claims were unfounded and should be treated with the utmost contempt” adding that Mr. Danquah had passed the interview and is fully supported by the Board of Directors of GNPC.

Most recently, the Senior Staff Union of the GNPC in a statement said Mr Danquah since assuming office has made cross-functional movements consistent with industry practice, as well as, GNPC’s Corporate Plan in compliance with the conditions of service after obtaining board approval.

They claim that these visionary changes were much needed in the corporation and have boosted productivity.

They added that Mr Danquah has also instituted cost-saving measures and improved capacity building for staff in key areas to upgrade their knowledge and competencies to help GNPC seamlessly execute its mandate as the national oil company of Ghana.

Actions speak louder than words, and it is in this light that the management and staff of GNPC have assured the general public and stakeholders of their unwavering support to the CEO who is poised and remains focused towards increasing oil and gas reserves for the country to positively impact livelihoods.