Open Contracting of Petroleum Sales (GH0037)

Problem to be addressed ● Most of Ghana’s petroleum revenue comes from two long-term sales contracts with Russian Trader Litasco and Chinese owned Unipec Asia. The public knows next to nothing about these long-term sales contracts.

The commitment  The government commits to make these long-term sales contracts open by December 2022.

Contribution of commitment to solving problem ● Will make available to the Ghanaian public the terms and condition under which this vital resource of Ghana is sold abroad.

Relevance of commitment to OGP values  Commitment will improve transparency in a sector of the Ghanaian economy which is so opaque.

Additional information

Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable Start Date: End Date:  Minister of Finance and Minister of Energy to engage Ghana National Petroleum Cooperation on modalities for making sales contract public Nov. 2021 June 2023  Minister of Finance makes sales contract public after necessary consultations Nov 2022 June 2023

Action Plan Review

Commitment 10. Petroleum Sales Contract Transparency

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Modest

Results Report

Commitment 10. Petroleum Sales Contract Transparency

The commitment sought to improve transparency in Ghana’s petroleum trading, by making public the petroleum sales contracts for the two predominant long-term contracts that constitute 59 percent of the total petroleum revenue, and account for approximately 6 percent of the government’s revenue.

Implementation of the milestones did not proceed beyond correspondence between the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC). The primary debates that stalled implementation were, firstly, regarding which institution was responsible for publication of the contracts and, secondly, the concern that publication of the contracts would erode Ghana’s competitive advantage. [78] The commitment text, as written, placed the responsibility of publishing the contracts on the Ministry of Finance. However, the self-assessment report [79] clarifies that the Ministry of Finance handles the revenue generated from petroleum sales and the contractual responsibilities were with the Ministry of Energy and GNPC. Furthermore, the self-assessment report indicated perceived risk that making the contracts public could damage Ghana’s commercial interests.

Notably, Ghana stands out for its comprehensive transparency framework in managing natural resource extraction. Both the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) [80] and the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) [81] have contributed to promoting transparency within the sector. Moreover, while the 2021 Resource Governance Index [82] indicates improved scores for Ghana, the report suggests that the Ministry of Energy and the GNPC could further enhance disclosure practices on licensing, beneficial ownership, environmental and social impact assessments, and asset declaration among public officials, among others.