Imani Africa and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) have sighted the announcement by AGM Petroleum to relinquish its interest in the South Deepwater Tano (SDWT) block, which hosts one discovery, the Nyankom-1X, from a drilling campaign embarked on by AGM in 2019. We welcome this development but wish to add that more needs to be done regarding this matter and the whole issue of Aker Energy’s oil holdings in Ghana to ensure the rule of law and fair treatment for Ghana as the sovereign.

In 2021, AGM and Aker Energy, both significantly owned by the Norwegian businessman, Kjell Inge Røkke, proposed to sell 70% of the SDWT Block and 37% of the DWT/CTP, held by Aker to GNPC at the cost of about $1.3 billion in a joint transaction. However, Imani Africa and ACEP, in alliance with other wellmeaning Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), opposed the transaction after reviewing the costs and policy rationale for the acquisition as it assigned economic benefits to Aker and the costs to Ghana.

Full Statement Below: