The Founding Editor-in-Chief of Fourth Estate, Mr Manasseh Azure Awuni, has questioned the value addition of Strategic Mobility Ghana Limited (SML) to the upstream oil and gold production sector.
talk Joy FM top stories “If you have the opportunity to interview a GRA official or a Treasury official who defends this answer, I would ask you a simple question: What value does SML add to the upstream oil sector? Is it bringing about this?β he said. What added value does SML bring to the gold production sector?β
Also read:
GRA said in a statement that the integration agreement pays SML more than $100 million a year, noting that “the implicit understanding is that without added value, SML will not be paid.”
However, Azul responded by saying that the claim was false.
He said that according to the contract extended by the Treasury Department, “SML will not be paid on a value-added basis.”
He said SML was not expected to add value to the upstream oil or gold sectors, adding that it would be paid as long as production was occurring.
βThe contract says that Ghana will be paid $0.75 per barrel for every 160,000 barrels of oil it produces. So as long as there is production, and as long as SML claims to have oversight. They will receive the money,” he said.
βIf 160,000 to 170,000 barrels of fuel are produced every day and SML starts this project, they will make a profit of $120,000, or $0.75 per barrel. It will produce 0.75% of the gold production it claims to have. It has nothing to do with value addition,” he added.
He added that the only time SML will not be profitable is when Ghana stops producing oil and gold.
Disclaimer: The views, comments, opinions, contributions and statements made by readers and contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Multimedia Group Limited.