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The deal would be Trafigura’s first in Ghana and GNPC said it would fund the loan through its mandated share of national oil export revenue and did not need parliamentary approval.
GNPC said in a document prepared for the deal, seen by Reuters, it could not fund itself entirely through public sources on a sustainable basis
“GNPC has to be prudent and build up capital for its growth. This is normal commercial practice. No serious company lives from year to year,” it said. It did not name the banks involved in the loan.
Ghana is on course to produce around 105,000 barrels of oil per day in 2014 from its offshore Jubilee field that first started pumping in 2010, GNPC said. Britain’s Tullow Oil is the lead stakeholder in Jubilee while GNPC holds a 13.6 percent stake.
Senior politicians from the ruling party and the main opposition told Reuters the loan should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny in part because the loan was beyond what had already been allocated to GNPC by parliament.
Source: Reuters
