Government handling of oil sector fair

The government has been graded average for its oversight, management and administration of the country’s oil sector.

Parliament, the county’s donor partners, oil and gas companies and civil society organizations (CSOs) also received an overall grade of fair, that is, a “C”.

The grading was done by the Ghana Civil Society (CS) Platform on Oil and Gas based on recommendations by the civil society on the oil and gas sector published by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) in February 2009, a communiqué from a citizen’s summit on oil and gas in June 2010 and international best practices based on the natural resource charter.

The assessment, contained in a report titled, “Ghana’s Oil Boom: A Readiness Report Card”, has been launched in Accra.

The report assesses how the government, parliament, oil companies and CSOs have performed in relation to the benchmarks spelt out in the documents, innovation by duty bearers in carrying out their functions and also their commitment to ensure transparency and accountability in the sector.

It is to highlight the country’s performance in the development of a sustainable oil and gas sector, evaluate the performance of stakeholders and draw attention to gaps in the legal and regulatory framework of the sector.

In spite of the average grading, details show that there is much commitment on the part of all stakeholders to ensure a sustainable and transparent sector.

A deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah Fuseni, who was at the launch, emphasized that commitment by recounting how, before the passage of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, and with the lifting of the country’s first oil, representatives of the government and the Bank of Ghana had met to discuss the way proceeds accruing to the country could be lodged.

The World Bank Country Director, Mr Ishac Diwan, who gave the views of donor partners, endorsed the work of the CS Platform on oil and gas, adding that it had contributed to making the sector a blessing for the economy.

He said the issues raised about donor partners in the publication would be considered by the bank.

A Senior Policy Advisor of OXFAM America, Mr Ian Gary, who represented international NGO’s, said significant progress had been made in the sector, with a good degree of transparency and engagement by CSOs and parliamentarians.

Source: Daily Graphic

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