Policy think tank, IMANI Africa, has revealed that the government of Ghana risks losing US$30 billion in the recent oil find by Aker Energy Ghana Limited.

IMANI Africa said Aker discovered the oil after its exploration licence had expired in 2014 and failed to go through the right processes, thereby making their exploration activities illegal.

IMANI believes the Pecan X and Pecan Y in the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block (DWT/CTP) are essentially not covered by any of the Petroleum Agreements (PA) in force, hence those additional finds require a new Petroleum Agreement to be negotiated under the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 Act 919.

At a press conference in Accra on Thursday, April 25, 2019, Vice-President of IMANI Africa, Mr Kofi Bentil, questioned why the government has not taken action to secure what is due the country.

“Those two blocks are controlled and owned by Aker. So, it is a curious trend that if it comes to that we don’t seem to pursue our rights and to get the most from our oil,” Mr Bentil said.

Aker’s find is about 450-550 million barrels, with potential recoverable reserves of nearly one billion barrels, a discovery touted as the biggest in the oil sector in Africa.