He expressed optimism that the coming on board of ExxonMobil, with its huge resource base, would boost the country’s oil and gas exploration with its attendant benefits to all Ghanaians.

The President said this when a delegation of the executives of ExxonMobil paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House after signing an agreement with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) in Accra on Thursday.

The agreement

Per the agreement, ExxonMobil would be taking 80 per cent of the oil project, with the GNPC taking 15 per cent and the remaining five per cent going to a yet to be named indigenous company.

Officials of the Ministry of Energy led by the sector minister, Mr Boakye Agyarko; the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Dr K. K. Sarpong; the CEO of the Petroleum Commission, Mr Egbert Faibille Jnr, and officials of ExxonMobil, including the company’s Vice-President for ExxonMobil Africa,  Pamela Darwin, were present for the signing ceremony.

Describing the journey of ExxonMobil to Ghana as a long and tortuous one, President Akufo-Addo gave an assurance that Ghana would be a faithful partner to the agreement that had been signed in order to secure the nation’s interest.

He implored ExxonMobil to also ensure that the company respected and kept its side of the bargain.

President Akufo Addo said he was confident in the professional expertise of the Ghanaian officials representing the country in the negotiations and indicated that now that the paperwork was over, he looked forward to seeing people on the ground working to make the ExxonMobile investment in Ghana a success.

Parliamentary ratification

The President explained that per the nature of the agreement, there was the need to seek parliamentary ratification and expressed the hope that when Parliament resumed, the agreement would be ratified expeditiously.

The President urged the Speaker of Parliament and Members of Parliament to expeditiously work on the agreement in order for ExxonMobil to begin its operations lawfully.

He said a fourth party, an indigenous company, would also sign an agreement to make it effective.

ExxonMobil

Ms Darwin assured the President that her outfit would do all it takes to ensure that its oil exploration mission was successful and mutually beneficial to both parties of the agreement.

“ExxonMobil has been in Africa for over 100 years. We are very much involved in working with local communities and look forward to this opportunity. We will share our technical expertise with the local community. It is the beginning of a long-term partnership between the parties. We are super excited to being here,” she said.