A Ghanaian business executive, Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng, has criticized the partisan way in which the Sahara oil deal is being discussed in the press and expressed the fear that the repercussions may affect indigenous enterprise in the oil industry.
Mr Amoabeng, the Chief Executive Officer of Unique Trust Financial Services Limited and a one time local representative for ELF Aquitaine of France, told The Accra Mail in an interview on Wednesday that the oil industry is a highly developed and complex market whose operation is not as simple as imagined.
He said it is normal to contract the lifting of crude oil to oil companies who have the requisite expertise and contact in the market.
"Lifting crude oil is not like picking tomatoes from the market," he said, adding that it is unfortunate that those who are making much noise about the Sahara issue do not have an insight of how the industry operates.
Comparing the 10-year oil contract of Vitol to that of Sahara which is one year, the Chief Executive asked: "what really matters is whether this deal regarding Sahara is much better than Vitol. "If I should put myself in the shoes of the Minister of Energy, I would have acted the same manner to save the nation some money and to get the goods delivered at the right time," he said.