The Minority in Parliament has announced that if John Mahama wins the 2024 election and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) forms the government, they will not proceed with the ENI-Springfield unitization.
According to John Jinapor, minority spokesperson for Mines and Energy, the NDC administration would prioritize resolving the dispute within one month of assuming office.
The government’s efforts to unify the two oil fields underwent arbitration, which ruled against Ghana.
In Parliament, John Jinapor, Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee, stated that a potential NDC administration would permit both producers to independently operate their respective fields.
The minority spokesperson further mentioned that after the ruling, the Attorney General’s office and certain media sources spread inaccurate information.
Jinapor stressed that, according to the tribunal’s decision, the previous directive from the Energy Minister, Mr. Peter Amewu, holds no legal validity.
He highlighted that the tribunal ruled in favor of ENI and instructed Ghana to rescind that directive.
“It was avoidable. We cautioned them. Civil society cautioned them. President Mahama cautioned them. We knew we were heading for defeat because that decision lacked basis. It was not backed by any law, and it was not backed by common sense”.
Mr. Jinapor pointed out that the government disregarded their advice, resulting in this embarrassing situation.
“What it does is that it sends the wrong signal because nobody would want to do business with Ghana if you are seen as a hostile investment nation, but more importantly, we have lost so much revenue. If we had resolved this matter in 2020, we would have been producing more oil.”