You scrutinised AKER/AGM agreement before its approval – Govt replies Minority on secrecy claim

Claims by the Minority in Parliament that the AKER/AGM agreement was renegotiated in secrecy is false, John Peter Amewu, Minister of Energy, has said.

He said the deal was scrutinized and debated on the floor of parliament by both sides of the House, therefore, the Minority cannot turn around and accuse the government of shrouding it in secrecy.

The Minority at a press conference in Accra addressed by former Deputy Minister of Power and Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Jinapor, accused the government of betrayal in the renegotiation of the deal.

Mr Jinapor said: “That the AKER/AGM agreement is the highest level of betrayal by this Government as it clearly smacks of corruption and raises serious transparency and accountability issues because of concessions granted to Aker Energy in the amended agreement.”

But a in a statement reacting to this, Mr Petwer Amewu said: “We find it curious why the NDC alleges lack of transparency and corruption in the Aker project. The Agreement and all its contents were scrutinized and approved by Parliament which included the minority bench.

“The allegation therefore betrays the NDC’s understanding of transparency. The NDC has as yet not mentioned any corrupt act involving any official of the Government in the Aker contract. We challenge them to do so.

“On the incentives provided to Aker Energy, we should understand that project economics can be enhanced with incentives when market conditions adversely affect the prospects of profitability and the NDC knows this well.

“The decision to incentivize the project was further informed by the imminent threat of declining crude oil production and its potential effect on our economy.”

“The oil production profile of Ghana shows that the contributions of the three producing fields will peak and reach plateau levels of approximately 230,000 bbls per day in 2020 and maintain that production level up to 2023 after which production levels will begin to decline if new fields are not brought on line.”