An Accra lawyer says whether it is passed or not, the Oil and Gas draft Bill, yet to be presented to Parliament, will not have any effect on the drilling of oil in the expected time-frame.
Speaking to the Times in an interview in Accra yesterday, in reaction to fears expressed by Dr. Akoto Osei, Minority Spokesman on Finance, at a forum at the weekend, the lawyer who pleaded anonymity �for professional reasons,� pointed out that the government had already entered into contract with oil companies.
�They have secured finance, gone beyond the exploration stage and practically demonstrated their readiness to drill in the time-frame expected,� he observed.
According to him, if Ghana fails to pass a law which will regulate the industry locally, it will in no way stop the drilling. The bill cannot change the existing contracts, as they stand, and the nation will still receive all royalties due to her.�
However, he said, �there is a sense in which the MP can be right, in that if we, as a nation fail to pass a law to regulate the industry, we will be short-changing ourselves because there will be no regulations to guarantee local content in the industry.
His comments come in the wake of fears that the drilling of the oil, which is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of this year, might be delayed because the nation�s Oil and Gas Draft Bill has not been presented to parliament. There are speculations that the bill, which is to pave the way for production to commence as planned, is still before Cabinet for consideration, even though parliament is scheduled to rise for recess next month.
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