Tullow Ghana owes GRA US$76,434.5 over Surface Rental

Oil giant and a lead partner in the country’s Jubilee oil fields, Tullow Ghana Limited according to the 2015 Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) Annual Report on the Management of Petroleum Revenues, owes the Ghana Revenue Authority a whooping amount of Seventy Six Thousand, Four Hundred and Thirty Four point Zero Five US Dollars (US$76,434.05).

Tullow Ghana together with eight (8) other upstream companies including Saltpond Offshore Producing Company, AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited, Heritage Exploration and Production Company Limited ( East Keta Ultra Deepwater), Heritage Exploration and Production Company Limited ( Offshore South West Tano), Brittania U, UB Resources Limited, ECO Atlantic/A-Z and Sahara Energy Fields Ghana Limited are reported for not paying their surface rentals.

The Report cited Oranto / Stone Energy who owes the government an amount US$ 67,438.36 on Surface Rentals but cannot be tracked by the GRA for collection.

It however recommended the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to initiate the process to recover all outstanding surface rentals owed by the upstream companies to the government with applicable penalties, which stood at approximately Seven Hundred and Twenty Two Thousand US Dollars (US$ 722,000 ) as at the end of 2015.

“Similarly, no effort should be spared to retrieve the Oranto/ Stone Energy’s indebtedness to the government of Ghana in respect of the non payment of 2012 surface rental of US$67, 438.36 which as at December 2015 had also accumulated penalties of US$ 3.46 million in accordance with Section 3(4) of the PRMA.

Meanwhile KOSMOS, ENI Ghana EP Ltd, AMNI ITNL. Petroleum Development, Hess Ghana Exp, CAMAC Energy Ghana Limited, Medea Development International Limited and one other company who is yet to be identified by the GRA were reported to have fulfilled the payment of their respective surface rentals for the year 2015.

Speaking to the Republic at a just ended training workshop to review PIAC’s Report organised by the Institute for Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) in partnership with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), a member of PIAC’s technical committee Dr Steve Manteaw pointed out that it’s about time GRA get serious with the collection of these huge sums of monies owed to the state by international oil companies. He was of the view that if the need arises for GRA to collaborate with the law enforcement agencies to get the country these monies, it should not hesitate in doing so.

By Nana Appiah Acquaye