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IFC clarifies
approval of loan to Tullow and Kosmos
Accra, March 4, Ghanadot/GNA – The
International Finance Corporation, (IFC), member of the
World Bank group that focuses on private sector investment,
on Wednesday said the approval of 215 million dollars as
loans for two companies prospecting oil in Ghana was based
on rigorous environmental assessment of the Jubilee oil
project.
The IFC Board in February this year approved loans for
Kosmos and Tullow in the sum of 100 million and 115 million
dollars respectively to enable them finance certain aspects
of the project.
However, Civil Society Groups are questioning the rationale
for the approval of the loan on the grounds that a
comprehensive environmental impact assessment had not been
done.
Mr Lance Crist, Senior Manager, Oil and Gas Division, said
IFC’s involvement at an early stage ensured that IFC
performance standards were brought to bear helping to
improve the outcome.
The IFC, he said, had had talks with Ghana’s Environmental
Protection Agency and were putting together an environmental
social review summary to ensure that people living around
the oil fields did not suffer any negative environmental
impact.
He explained that during production, oil wells would be tied
to a facility named: “Floating Production Storage
Offloading, (FPSO)” through an underground system to
minimize the impact of the oil production on the
environment.
The FPSO involves using an underground infrastructure that
enables oil to be offloaded to trading tankers directly.
Mr Crist further explained that with the FPSO facility there
was usually no onshore facility constructed which means that
there will be no need for resettlements.
He said there would also be limited restrictions on fishing
areas which would not affect the economic activities of
local people.
The total cost of the oil project is estimated at 3.2
billion dollars.
Mr Crist said though Tullow and Kosmos met the performance
standards, however, IFC would continue to monitor to ensure
that the companies operated within the internationally
accepted standards.
Mr Crist said IFC would be transparent about the oil
industry in terms of their readiness to disclose payments to
the government and its social management plans.
He said it was also looking at possibilities of improving
communication with the members of the communities where the
oil had been discovered to get them to understand the
project and to support it.
Mr Crist said the oil had a lot of developmental benefits
for the country in terms of developing a domestic source of
energy, revenue stream for the government, stimulate demand
for local goods and services as well as promote Foreign
Direct Investments.
“The Oil is neither a blessing nor a curse, it is what Ghana
makes of it,” he said, expressing the hope of a more
positive outcome.
GNA |
