Regional News of Monday, 20 June 2011

Source: GNA

Oil find cannot change economic status of Ghana over night

Koforidua, June 20, GNA - The Communication Director of Tullow Oil Company, Mr Gayheart Edem Mensah has observed that, Ghana earns more than it's 13 per cent share from the oil find off the shores of the Western Region.

He said Ghana also earn a 35 per cent corporate tax on every load of oil sold in addition to a royalty of five per cent.

Mr Mensah explained that though the oil revenue could increase the earnings of the country, the amount was not sufficient to turn the country into a prosperous nation over night and there was therefore the need to manage the expectation of the people from the oil find.

Mr Mensah was speaking in Koforidua during a media interaction with officials of Tullow Oil, one of the major partners engaged in the off shore mining of oil in Western Region.

He said the current expectation that Ghana's daily oil processing would hit its highest target of 120,000 barrels a day was not close to some neighbouring countries were production was two million barrels a day.

Mr Mensah said the oil business was a high risk area and so it has high standards which are not compromised and required that local Ghanaian companies that want to be engaged in the oil industry from the supply of vegetables to engineering would have to meet those standards.

He said companies which want to do business with the oil mining companies would first have to register with the Ghana National Petroleum Company.

He said the oil mining companies had established a system to contain any environmental challenges in case of oil spillage.

Mr Ken Nunoo also of Tullow Oil urged media personnel to be abreast of oil mining production so that they could effectively educate and inform the public about these activities.