The attention of the national Multi-stakeholder Group (MSG) of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) has been drawn to certain media reports on some of the findings in its 2014 reconciliation report on the petroleum sector, which in the view of the MSG constitute a misrepresentation of the facts as contained in the report.

One of the media reportage in question, titled: ‘$84m Missing from Ghana’s 2014 Oil Revenue’ and carried by TV3 network, suggested that, an amount of $84,382,088 of total oil receipts for 2014 could not be accounted for, as government could not verify receiving such revenue from the oil and gas companies.

The story further indicated that, the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative report for 2014 “blamed Anadarko WCTP Limited for failing to make the payments of the oil and gas revenue to the state”. For the records, we wish to state categorically that, the 2014 Ghana EITI reconciliation report on the petroleum sector never suggested that Anadarko failed to pay taxes and royalties due the state. In fact GHEITI has no reason to doubt that those payments were made.

The problem encountered while reconciling the payments made by the upstream oil and gas companies with those received and accounted for by the state, however was that, Anadarko failed to complete and return the questionnaire on its income and payments to the government of Ghana in respect of its stake in Ghana’s oil and gas sector.

This, the GHEITI report said partly accounted for discrepancies noticeable in the reconciliation report. While GHEITI regret the inconvenience that the misrepresentation of the facts in its 2014 reconciliation report may have caused Anadarko and its shareholders, we take this opportunity to encourage the company to show itself more responsive to the transparency and accountability tenets to which both its host country (Ghana) and its country of origin (USA) are committed.

We make this point, mindful of the fact that, openness in transactions in which the public has a legitimate interest helps to remove mistrust arising sometimes out of speculations, and bolsters the social license on which business thrives.

Signed, Dr Steve Manteaw
(Co-chair, GHEITI)