When Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) announced that its subsidiary, Explorco, had become the owner of an additional 7% stake in the Jubilee and TEN oil fields, many Gha
The report indicates that when the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) announced that its subsidiary, Explorco, had become the owner of an additional 7% stake in the Jubilee and TEN oil fields, many Ghanaians wondered how the asset got there.
It further notes that the answer goes back several years and involves an American oil giant, a takeover worth billions of dollars, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, a state-backed financing arrangement, and an ongoing legal disagreement over where the revenue from the asset should go.
That year, U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum completed its acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in a deal worth about US$55 billion. Through the acquisition, Occidental inherited Anadarko’s 7% commercial interest in Ghana’s Jubilee and TEN oil fields.
To reduce the debt it took on from the takeover, Occidental decided to sell several international assets, including its interest in Ghana’s offshore oil fields.
For Ghana, the proposed sale presented an opportunity.
Rather than allow another international oil company to buy the stake, GNPC decided to acquire it as part of a strategy to increase Ghana’s commercial participation in its own petroleum industry.
The agreed purchase price was initially about US$199 million. However, after adjustments for taxes, previous oil liftings, operating costs and other financial obligations, the final amount paid was approximately US$164.8 million.
Instead of buying the petroleum interest directly, GNPC bought a company called Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (JOHL).
This is where much of the public debate began.
JOHL was incorporated in the Cayman Islands in September 2021 by Anadarko Offshore Petroleum LLC shortly before the transaction was completed. GNPC has consistently maintained that it did not establish the offshore company itself but rather purchased all the shares in an existing company created by Anadarko to hold the asset during the transaction.
On 13 October 2021, GNPC signed a Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 100% of JOHL. Six days later, on 19 October, the corporation completed payment of approximately US$164.8 million, effectively taking ownership of Anadarko’s 7% commercial interest in the Jubilee and TEN fields.
The acquisition was financed through an advance from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance, with GNPC later explaining that revenue generated from the asset would be used to repay the government.
Following the acquisition, JOHL became the company through which the 7% commercial interest was held. However, GNPC had another long-term plan.
The corporation wanted the asset to be managed through Explorco, its wholly owned exploration and production subsidiary established to undertake commercial upstream petroleum activities on behalf of the corporation.
