Skip to main content
  • News
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Search

Natural Resource Governance Institute

  • Topics
    Beneficial ownership
    Economic diversification
    Mandatory payment disclosure
    Revenue sharing
    Civic space
    Energy transition
    Measurement of environmental and social impacts
    Sovereign wealth funds
    Commodity prices
    Global initiatives
    Measurement of governance
    State-owned enterprises
    Contract transparency and monitoring
    Legislation and regulation
    Open data
    Subnational governance
    Coronavirus
    Licensing and negotiation
    Revenue management
    Tax policy and revenue collection
    Corruption
  • Approach
    • Stakeholders
      • Civil society actors
      • Government officials
      • Journalists and media
      • Parliaments and political parties
      • Private sector
    • Natural Resource Charter
    • Regional knowledge hubs
  • Countries
    NRGI Priority Countries
    Colombia
    Guinea
    Myanmar
    Tanzania
    Dem. Rep. of Congo
    Mexico
    Nigeria
    Tunisia
    Ghana
    Mongolia
    Peru
    Uganda
    OTHER COUNTRIES
  • Learning
    • Training
      • Residential training courses
        • Advanced
        • Executive
        • Anglophone Africa
        • Francophone Africa
        • Asia-Pacific
        • Eurasia
        • Latin America
        • Middle East and North Africa
      • Online training courses
        • Massive open online course (MOOC)
        • Interactive course: Petronia
      • Trainers' modules
        • (empty)
    • Primers
    • Glossary
  • Analysis & Tools
    • Publications
    • Tools
    • Economic models
  • About Us
    • What we do
      • 2020-2025 Strategy
      • Country prioritization
    • NRGI impact
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
    • Leadership team
    • Experts and staff
    • Careers and opportunities
    • Contact us
    • Financials
    • Grant-making
    • Privacy policy
  • News
  • Events
  • Blog

You are here

  1. Home
  2. Blog

Ghanaian Government Commits to Full-Text Disclosure of All Petroleum Contracts

19 July 2017
Author
Robert Pitman
Topics
Contract transparency and monitoring, Licensing and negotiation
Countries
Ghana
Stakeholders
Civil society actors, Government officials, Journalists and media, Parliaments and political parties, Private sector
Precepts
P2 P3 P4 P5 What are Natural Resource Charter precepts?
Social Sharing
Ghana’s government will develop a publicly available petroleum register containing the full text of all petroleum agreements, licenses, permits and authorizations, a government minister said yesterday.
 
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.
 

Ghana energy minister Ghana deputy energy minister Mohammed Amin Adam speaks at the 2017 Resource Governance Index launch in London.

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 recognized 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.
 
Rob Pitman is a governance officer at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).
 

Related content

GHEITI Offers Guidance on Extractives Contract Disclosure in Ghana

Robert Pitman
30 August 2017

Resource Governance Index: Sub-Saharan Africa Highlights

31 January 2019

NRGI’s Top 10 Blog Posts in 2016

13 December 2016

The 2021 Resource Governance Index Research Process is Underway

Liz McGrath, Anna Fleming
13 July 2020

From Kampala to Budapest, and Back: A Ugandan Civil Society Leader Reflects on Lessons Learned

Don Bwesigye
19 May 2015

Recent Tweets

  • NRGInstitute
    NRGInstitute
    @NRGInstitute
    Follow @NRGInstitute
    🗞️ NRGI experts provide media with insight into oil, gas and mining governance. Find recent stories informed by N… t.co/YmCFbB4t8V
    8 hours 1 min ago.
    Reply Retweet Favorite
Helping people to realize the benefits of their countries’ endowments of oil, gas and minerals.
Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter Subscribe to Updates
  • Topics
    Beneficial ownership
    Civic space
    Commodity prices
    Contract transparency and monitoring
    Coronavirus
    Corruption
    Economic diversification
    Energy transition
    Global initiatives
    Legislation and regulation
    Licensing and negotiation
    Mandatory payment disclosure
    Measurement of environmental and social impacts
    Measurement of governance
    Open data
    Revenue management
    Revenue sharing
    Sovereign wealth funds
    State-owned enterprises
    Subnational governance
    Tax policy and revenue collection
  • Approach
    • Stakeholders
    • Natural Resource Charter
    • Regional knowledge hubs
  • Priority
    Countries
    • Colombia
    • Dem. Rep. of Congo
    • Ghana
    • Guinea
    • Mexico
    • Mongolia
    • Myanmar
    • Nigeria
    • Peru
    • Tanzania
    • Tunisia
    • Uganda
  • Learning
    • Training
    • Primers
  • Analysis & Tools
    • Publications
    • Tools
    • Economic models
  • About Us
    • What we do
    • NRGI impact
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
    • Leadership team
    • Experts and staff
    • Careers and opportunities
    • Contact us
    • Financials
    • Grant-making
    • Privacy policy
  • News
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Search