Eni/Vitol-Springfield Unitisation Dispute: Gov’t’s Attempt To ‘PR’ Its Way Through Loss Wrong, says Bright Simons
Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has criticized the Ghanaian government’s handling of its loss in the unitisation dispute with Eni/Vitol, describing their attempt to present it as a win as damaging and embarrassing for the state.
During the NorvanReports and BudgIT Ghana X Space Discussion on July 12, Mr Simons stressed that the government needs to recognize the loss and change its attitude to prevent similar issues in the future.
Mr Simons pointed out that although the International Arbitration Tribunal dismissed $915 million in monetary charges against the state, the government failed in its primary objective to force Eni/Vitol to unitise its oil field with Springfield’s Afina oil field.
“Government’s attempt to PR through this is bad and we need to start asking some serious questions. It appears damaging that the Government does not understand that this is an embarrassment and that tends not to let them (politicians) change their attitude and that’s bad for the country,” he averred.
He explained that prior analyses by IMANI Africa, ACEP, and other civil society organizations (CSOs) had indicated that the government’s push for unitisation was flawed as Springfield had not conducted sufficient drilling to determine the volume of oil in its field, nor had the connection between the two oil fields been proven.
“After our analysis, we concluded that the Government was wrong on many sides, first enough drills by Springfield to determine the volume of oil in the field had not been done. And also the connection between the two oil fields had not been proven, so it became apparent that the Government’s approach was being illogical and wrong,” he said.
Mr Simons warned that if Ghana continues to insist on enforcing the unitisation after the Tribunal’s ruling, Eni/Vitol could seek monetary damages from the state, which they are likely to win.
He called for a serious reevaluation of the government’s approach to such matters to avoid further negative consequences.
The NorvanReports & BudgIT X Space Discussion was on the topic, “Counting The Cost: When Government Ignores Expert Advice In Resource Dispute.”
