Browsing: Mining & Energy

The release issued last week and signed by the Managing Director, Edwin Provencal, indicated that, “the revaluation which was a deliberate decision to enhance the reporting of the company led to a deferred tax obligation of GHC292,935,973 compared to the net loss of GHC291,017,758, a difference of GHC1,918,215 (Appendix 1). The increase in the value of the revalued assets also resulted in increased depreciation charges which further reduced the bottom-line or the profit for the year. But, the ‘deferred tax obligation’ aspect beats the financial reporting knowledge of the finance expert. This led him to ask questions in awe.

The finance and energy expert, Alex Mould has, thus, summarised the liabilities of the major SOEs in the country to help in critical scrutiny of the performance of the SOEs. In the summary, it was clear that, most of the SOEs more than doubled their arrears payments or liabilities. The heavily indebted were GNPC, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). These companies have their liabilities exceeding GHC10.0 billion within a period of four years from 2016 to 2020.

The Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng who said this at the opening of the 2022 Ghana Mining Week and Gold Expo in Takoradi said quarry should be giving Ghana around GH¢100 million royalties annually, but Ghana only realised just GH¢ 3.8milllion in 2020.

Ghana since 2007 has awarded 18 oil blocks to various oil exploration and production companies. Out this, only three blocks have been developed and producing, that include the Jubilee field, TEN fields and the SGN field.

Speaking at national dialogue organized by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) on Ghana’s gas, the communication expert called on stakeholders to keep brainstorming in support of government to manage the sector. Themed “National Dialogue on the future of Ghana’s Gas Sector”,  the dialogue held in Accra brought some energy expect and industry players to  brainstorm on ways to develop the country’s “transition fuel”.

The unexpected windfall could go a long way to help government cushion consumers from sharp price hikes that have characterized the cost of fuel at the pumps in the past months.

The Russia-Ukraine invasion induced unprecedented spike in crude oil and gas prices is troubling many economies. This, coupled with the escalating U.S dollar exchange rate to the local currency (Cedi) threatens petroleum products supply in the country.

Within the past few weeks, prices of fuel at the pumps have consistently rise to hit an all-time high of about GHC8.30 per litre as at last week. Consumers have attributed the spikes to exchange rate escalation and too many taxes. But, NPA believes the discussions with the ministries will focus largely on the possible removal of some taxes on petroleum products.

Assessing ten 10years of oil production in Ghana, the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has called on the government and petroleum agreement (PA) negotiators to do a better job for the citizens. 

As at Tuesday evening, Brent crude was trading at about $137.64 according to Refinitiv. But, addressing a potential ban on Russian oil, Goldman’s commodities team wrote overnight that Europe’s dependence on Russian oil imports, of c. 4.3 mb/d of which 0.8 mb/d comes from pipeline, suggests that such a coordinated response will likely take time, leaving the possibility for only a US ban in short order.