UNDERSTANDING HOW TO ACQUIRE AN OIL LICENSED IN GHANA

To acquire an oil exploration license is Ghana, for both offshore and onshore, a prospective investor, must go through the following 10 steps:

1. Ministry of Petroleum
2. Receipt of letter of interest (addressed to Hon. Minister) to acquire exploration block notifies Petroleum Commission (PC) of the receipt of letter.
3. Applicant may then be invited to make a presentation of the company to PC.
4. Applicant is advised (by letter) to formally request the PC for an appointment to visit the Data Room
5. Petroleum Commission

Applicant receives appointment and inspects data on available blocks/contract area at Data Room (minimum 2 weeks’ notice). A non-refundable fee of $1000/GHC equivalent is paid when blocking appointment for Data Room visit

3. Application and submission
4. Applicant identifies available block of interest and picks up application form at the Ministry of Petroleum.
5. Applicant then submits 4 hard copies and 4 soft/digital copies (pdf format) of Application Package including maps, spreadsheets etc.
6. Minister of Petroleum
7. Receives application with a non-refundable application fee of US$ 10,000 by Bankers’ Draft, and screens application using basic checklist.
8. Acknowledges receipt of application
9. Sends copies of the Application Packages immediately to GNPC and PC
10. Evaluation Committee
11. Reviews and evaluates application
12. Sends evaluation report with outcome and recommendations to Hon. Minister for his consideration.
13. Minister of Petroleum

Take decision on application (s) and advises applicant(s) accordingly

7. Government negotiation team
8. If application is considered successful, Hon. Minister sets up a negotiation team to negotiate a Petroleum Agreement with the applicant. If the application is unsuccessful, applicant is advised accordingly
9. Draft Petroleum Agreement is prepared following successful negotiation.
10. Ministerial Consultation

Ministers from Ministry of Petroleum, Finance, Environment and Justice consult on draft Petroleum Agreement.

9. Cabinet
10. Minister of Petroleum sends draft Petroleum Agreement to Cabinet for approval
11. Cabinet approved draft petroleum Agreement is sent for Parliamentary ratification
12. Parliament

Petroleum Agreement becomes effective on date of ratification

Source: Penplusbytes