Petroleum Commission fashions out fiscal metering regulations

The Petroleum Commission has been engaging various stakeholders on the propriety of draft Petroleum Exploration and Production Measurement Regulations, which are “to ensure that accurate measurement forms the basis of revenue accruing to the nation”.

The regulations and guidelines have been developed by a cross-sectoral team led by the Commission with assistance from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

The team includes representatives from the Ministry of Petroleum, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, and the Ghana Standards Authority.

According to the Commission, the regulations have been developed to be consistent with national and internationally recognised standards, and a list of regulations and guidelines have been submitted to the Ghana Standards Authority for adoption.

Speaking to media on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ forum on the regulations, CEO of the Commission, Theophilus Ahwireng, said the Norwegians “have been kind enough” to make available to Ghana over 40 years’ experience which will result in a strong regulatory regime.

“These petroleum measurement regulations involve putting meters throughout the value-chain to ensure that what we obtain is the right quantity. All the factors from concept, methodology, design, construction, factory acceptance and then site acceptance are part of it,” he said.

Asked why development of the regulations did not happen earlier, Mr. Ahwireng said it is not as though there are no regulations but that systems everywhere need improvement, hence the new regulations.

“Remember there has always been a law to regulate the conduct of petroleum operations in this country, and that is the PNDC law 84. What’s currently in parliament is the E&P law, and it is a revision and improvement of the existing law. What we are discussing today is a regulation that gives further details as to how these measurements are done,” he said.

“We have fiscal meters in place. I think there was a report about a fiscal meter that had broken down. Yes, there was, and it has been fixed; and it important to mention that there is redundancy in measurements that are made. We always want to do things better.”

Aside from the fiscal regulations, Mr. Ahwireng said other ‘key regulations’ -- Heath, Safety and Environment and Data Management are in the works to smooth implementation of the yet-to-be-passed Petroleum Exploration and Production Law.