Withdraw Afina-Sankofa unitisation directive - Eni workers, TUC appeal to government

The General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union under the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has urged the government to remove the terms and condi­tion imposed on the unitisation of the Afina Discovery in the West Cape Three Points Block Two area and the Sankofa Field in the Offshore Cape Three Points area to help bring sanity in the upstream Petroleum sector.

In a petition presented to the Minister of State in charge of Energy and the Ministry of Energy, Herbert Krapah by the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union and copied to the Ghanaian Times, the union said while it supported the purpose of unitisation for the optimum recovery of petroleum resources and/or to enhance the efficient exploitation of petroleum resources, it has observed with grave concern that the State’s failure to resolve the unitisation issue and bring a decisive conclusion to the matter had significantly impacted the investment climate of the OCTP Project (including the general upstream business environment), resulting in potential job losses for its members.

“We also acknowledge the Final Arbitration Award made by the international Arbitral Tribunal under the auspices of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, Stockholm, Sweden on July 8, 2024. This award clearly determined that Ghana breached its own laws and the OCTP Petroleum Agreement by issuing the directive for the unitisation of the Afina Discovery and Sankofa Field,” the statement said.

The statement said Ghana was duly represented at the hearing of the arbitration, the state would quickly do the needful and see to the implementation of the award which was final and binding on the parties and withdraw the unitisation directive.

“We therefore respectfully request that your good self; as a matter of urgency, intervene in this matter by retracting the directives regarding the unitisation directives until all the parameters for unitisation are fulfilled,” the union said.

The statement said the union was confident that withdrawing those directives would help restore the OCTP partners’ confidence, encouraging them to maintain their investments in OCTP and the CTP Block Four.

“This action will further help prevent decisions that could lead to job losses and negatively affect the State and the livelihoods of numerous families and also boost investor confidence in the upstream sector considering that most upstream investors are interested in how this matter is being handled to its conclusion,” the statement said.