Special topics
President John Evans Atta Mills pledged to ensure transparent and judicious management of oil revenues in accordance with provisions of the Petroleum Management Act 805, 2011.
This statement the president made was due to the “CURSE” phenomenon, which has always been in existence since time memorial by oil rich nations such as Nigeria, Angola, Libya, and Algeria among others. According to the Minister of Finance Dr. Kwabena Duffour when reading the budget explained that the volume of crude oil from the first three lifting amounted to 2,980.720 barrels which realized a total sum of 337.3 million dollar (GH¢ 506.0 million).
Dr Duffour explained that the total oil revenue received so far had been allocated to the various allowable sources in accordance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA). He said the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) had on behalf of government lifted oil from the Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah, four times as at the end of October 2011 noting that the proceeds from its first lifting had been received.
D r Duffour also stated that the proceeds of the fourth were expected in November 2011. Out of the total amount received, an amount of 54.8 million and 14.4 million dollars had been transferred into the stabilization and heritage fund accounts respectively in accordance with relevant sections of the PRIMA.
The Energy Minister, Dr Joe Oteng Adjei, added at the recent inauguration of the Petroleum Board that Ghana can escape this CURSE phenomenon.
Dr Oteng-Adjei speaking at the program told the media that, it’s up to us to purpose in our hearts that we can escape the Curse phenomenon just as Daniel did, not to defy his God and by so doing the oil discovery in Ghana will become a blessing and not a CURSE.
Energy Ministry
