Over Failure to meet production Target

A renowned journalist, Kwabena Adu Koranteng has advised government to set up a full scale enquiry into the operations of the Jubilee Partners who are managing the Floating Petroleum storage facility (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah to verify why it has not been able to meet its production target since oil production began in commercial quantities.

Mr. Koranteng suspects that the field could be meeting its target of 120,000 barrels per day and even more but the illicit activities of some recalcitrant officials on board the vessel has led to the adjustment of the metering system causing it to record wrong figures; a situation that is alleged to be leading to diversion of Ghana’s oil resources. According to Mr. Koranteng, state officials on the FPSO are not enough to check or examine the flow of the crude through the metering system during drilling and these could lead to tempering of the system. Besides, who checks the state officials monitoring the crude production from accepting “gifts” from officials of the oil producing companies?

He believes that improper monitoring of crude flow from the seabed , adjustment of the metering system PSO Kwame Nkrumah and other secret deals could be causing Ghana millions of dollars if not checked.

He urged the government and the people of Ghana to be vigilant in a bid to safeguard the country’s oil resources since the industry is controlled by cartels all over the world. “They try all the time to dictate to governments and nations. We must be vigilant as a nation else, we will lose all our resources to these companies; he noted.

“We need to investigate why the companies are not meeting their production targets. If it’s indeed true that they are not meeting their targets based on technical difficulties then they should be taken to court in the first place for lying to Ghanaians that they could meet their production target after a year of production”.

For instance, Kosmos Energy has been sued by shareholders in the united state for assuring them initially that the jubilee field could produce up to 120,000 barrels a day after a year of production. Their failure to meet the target has made the shareholders lose millions of dollars hence the suit. It is therefore prudent for the nation to also assess the situation and take instant action to avoid regrets in the future “he stated.