Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni
Ghana has assured all oil-producing firms to continue operating at the Jubilee Oilfield despite strong opposition from the Ivory Coast government.
Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Foreign Affairs Minister, said the country was negotiating with the Ivorian government and other neighboring countries to ensure that its boundaries were well defined.
He promised that Ghana’s oil reserves were safe and well protected, adding, “We are in negotiations with Cote d’lvoire to establish and delimit our maritime boundary with them. Now it is not only Cote d’lvoire, we have a maritime boundary with Togo, we are in the process, we have a maritime boundary with Benin as well as Nigeria and we are negotiating,” he told a cross-section of the media at the meet the press session in Accra yesterday.
Alhaji Mumuni said it became necessary for Ghana to renegotiate its maritime boundaries in order to increase the country’s economic zones.
Touching on other issues, the Minister said Ghana continues to play its part in the collective effort by the African Union (AU) to promote peace, stability and economic development on the African continent.
Ghana’s oil reserves came under severe threat few days ago when it was reported that Cote d’lvoire had renewed its claim to part of the oil reserves in the deep waters of the Western region.
The French-speaking country had a couple of months ago declared it owned part of Ghana’s oil reserves and called for the re-demarcation of the reserves.
The reports even indicated that some oil companies operating in Ghana have been asked by the Ivorian authorities to stop operating after a meeting between the two parties.
The reports further stressed that the Jubilee partners, including Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy, have raised red flags regarding the boundary problem. But the timely assurance by the government will now give hope to the oil-producing companies.
By Charles Nixon Yeboah