Ghana’s government will develop a publicly available petroleum register containing the full text of all petroleum agreements, licenses, permits and authorisations, a government minister said. Deputy minister of energy in charge of petroleum Mohammed Amin Adam announced the move at the Africa Open Data Conference underway in Accra, Ghana. Projected to be ready by the end of 2017, the register will link to an open data portal with further information on projects in Ghana’s growing petroleum industry.
The declaration provides clarity on an important area in the country’s 2016 Petroleum Exploration and Production Act, which mandates such a register be kept and be accessible. The act’s existing provision did not clarify whether full-text contracts, as well as their amendments and annexes, would be made public, or just a simple list of agreements.
Given that full text is usually required to understand the nuances of agreed terms, today’s commitment represents an important step forward for oil industry transparency, according to NRGI Ghana country manager Nafi Chinery.
“Contracts contain key information on how projects will be run and what benefits they bring, as well as rights and obligations of the government and companies,” Chinery said. “This is all information that is in the public interest. The Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Regulations, which are currently being drafted, present an opportunity to explicitly incorporate contract transparency into Ghanaian law.”
To ensure that contracts are easy to find, browse, search and use, NRGI recommends the government ensure contract documents be published in an open data file format as opposed to “locked PDF” files that cannot be searched or easily copied. Platforms like ResourceContracts.org help countries accomplish this. The government must ensure citizens can use and reuse disclosed contracts without restrictions.
As part of international good practices, contract disclosure is well recognised as a key component of accountability and good governance in the natural resource sector. At least 39 countries have published contracts and 27 now have laws requiring contract disclosure. This includes 22 EITI countries, as well as five additional jurisdictions including Western Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Mexico and South Sudan. Among 51 Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) countries, 29 have disclosed at least some contracts.
In the petroleum sector, contracts contain important information that citizens need to understand the nature and impacts of extraction. These contracts are also necessary to properly monitor company activity and hold corporate entities accountable.
Contract disclosure also provides many advantages to the government. Disclosure creates trust between the government and citizens and provides clarity and assurance to companies seeking to invest in the country. For companies, contract disclosure helps build a “social license to operate” and this can help build stronger community relationships that make projects more stable.
