Special topics
Hello our cherished reader. We trust that your Easter holidays were filled with joy and excitement. We bring you another review of stories making headlines in the dailies today.
The various online and newspapers sources including Myjoyonline, Daily Guide Africa, Classfm, Adomonline, Citifm, Kasapafm, Daily Graphic among others report on the caution extended to the government by workers of BOST. The statement was issued by both the Junior and the Senior Staff unions of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) calling on the government to move against what they describe as a cartel within the company sabotaging fuel prices. According to the statement, the executives of the two unions stated that BOST is the only institution with the adequate infrastructure and the human resource capacity to bring petroleum prices down. Thus, they have said the government should pay attention to them and ignore the persons within the company who have formed a great cartel that has dominated the industry. Read more here
In another development, Graphic online and newspaper report on the lamentation of the various oil marketing companies (OMCs) across the country. Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of OMCs, made the statement during a press briefing. He bemoaned the struggles the OMCs endure to survive due to high taxes, diminishing profit margins and activities of illegal fuel smugglers. Mr Agyemang-Duah first sent a distress call to the government in May 2017, claiming that more than 4,000 workers at OMC outlets risked losing their jobs, if the government did not act to save their businesses. Read more here
The Ghana News Agency also reports on the call made to extractive companies to strengthen their engagement structure and engage stakeholders who can influence activities in their plans for development. Mr. Zakaria Issah, the Community Affairs Superintendent – Golden Star Wassa, made this call. According to him, this would help address their grievances. Mr. Issah made this known during the final roundtable discussion on the implementation of the Voluntary Principles (VP) looking back on the milestones of the programme and look forward to the future on its sustainability in the country. Read more here
The Guardian.ng reports on the Resource Governance Index (RGI) which seeks to rate countries based on how they are managing their natural resources. According to the report, Nigeria scored 42 out of 100 points and ranked 55 among 89 assessments in the 2017 Resource Governance Index (RGI), while Ghana’s oil and gas sector scored a satisfactory 67 of 100 points, making it the best performer in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana has a favorable enabling environment and also performs well in revenue management, while its sovereign wealth fund is the second-best governed among 34 funds assessed in the index. RGI noted that Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management Act allocates oil revenues transparently between the budget, the national oil company and two funds, yet accumulated a large budget deficit and borrowed heavily against future oil revenues, even though oil revenues presently constitute only four per cent of total government revenues.
The RGI indicated that value is lost particularly in licensing and in the sales of government oil by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as well as when revenues from oil and gas are shared and saved. Read more here
Keep visiting www.reportingoilandgas.org for more news, updates, opportunities and events in the extractive sector.