GNPC declared best governed NOC in Sub-Saharan Africa, 5th globally

The state-owned oil company, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in the areas of transparency and accountability is ranked the best governed national oil company (NOC) in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the fifth best governed NOC globally.

Furthermore, GNPC, according to the 2017 Resource Governance Index (RGI) of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) is adjudged the 8th best state-owned enterprise globally out of 74 state-owned enterprises assessed by the RGI.

Making the above assertions in a keynote address at the media launch of the 2021 NRGI Resource Governance Index (RGI) on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, Dr KK Sarpong, Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration at the GNPC, Benjamin Acolatse, remarked that given the Corporation’s governance performance in the NRGI’s 2017 RGI edition, it is not surprising the improved performance of the country’s resource governance in the NRGI’s 2021 RGI assessment.

The NRGI in its assessment of Ghana’s resource governance in the 2021 RGI, scored the country’s oil and gas sector 78 points out of 100, an improvement of 11 points from 2017’s 67 points. The country’s strengthened resource governance, the NRGI notes is underpinned by improvements in the governance of licensing and national budgeting along with continued improvements of the state-owned GNPC and the Ghana Stabilization Fund, the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

“The adoption of new laws regarding licensing and national budgeting strengthened Ghana’s extractives legal framework and helped drive the 2021 RGI score increase,” said NRGI.

Ghana’s oil and gas sector has grown steadily since production began in the Jubilee oil field in 2010, with hydrocarbon exports increasing from $127 million in 2010 to over $4.9 billion in 2019, comprising almost 23 percent of Ghana’s merchandise exports.

The governance of the sector has improved since the 2017 RGI, driven by a 14-point increase in value realization and a 20-point increase in revenue management. Ghana’s enabling environment continues to provide a solid base for good resource governance, although areas for improvement remain.

Speaking further at the launch, Acolatse noted that GNPC has helped Ghana become a net exporter of oil with the country currently producing 150,000 barrels of oil per day and exports 300 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, mostly for power generation.

Adding the corporation has contributed significantly to de-risking the oil and gas sector through data acquisition and processing which has attracted substantial foreign investors and led to the signing of 18 petroleum agreements, extensive exploration leading to significant discoveries thereby contributing to the nation’s growing hydrocarbon reserves estimated to be over 1,200 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Touching on the energy transition plans of the GNPC, Mr. Acolatse stated further that, the Corporation’s medium-term strategy is to accelerate aggressive exploration and production to maximize near-term returns while re-evaluating prospects for diversification into renewables and power in the long term.

“In line with our energy transition, GNPC is fully aware of the transition and its inherent consequences on our operations as the NOC of Ghana. Our medium-term strategy is to accelerate aggressive exploration and production to maximize near-term returns while re-evaluating prospects for diversification into renewables and power in the long term and as much as possible avoid stranded assets,” stated Acolatse.

Wilberforce Asare