If we are doing downstream monitoring, why not upstream- Public Accounts Committee Chair Queries.

The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Dr. James Klutse Avedzi has expressed the need for revenue monitoring in Ghana’s upstream sector.

According to the Member of Parliament for Keta North, the upstream sector could be susceptible to illicit financial flow if the needed expertise and experiences are not deployed to forestall same.

‘‘…I have a serious issue that we must consider as a country. In fact, the petroleum sector is one of the sectors where illicit financial flow takes place a lot. If we don’t have the expertise, that is the area they can take a lot of money from our country’, he stated.

He made these comments in a Public Accounts Committee Sitting of Friday July 26, 2024, where officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ghana Revenue Authority, Bank of Ghana and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation were responding to audit queries.

‘‘If even the downstream we are getting contractors to monitor, what about the upstream,’’ he asked.

He further queried the Ministry of Finance on its efforts in addressing the illicit flow of funds in Ghana’s petroleum sector.

Responding, the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Mrs. Abena Osei-Asare admitted the need for closer collaboration among players within the Energy Ministry and related agencies to address the revenue concerns.

‘‘We have started engaging and we will also look at the report and together I believe we can come up with something that can serve the nation’’, she added.

For his part, the Commissioner in charge of Domestic Tax Revenue Division, Mr. Edward Apenteng Gyamerah noted that SML provides monitoring and revenue assurance for the GRA in the downstream sector.

He clarified that downstream petroleum revenue is different from upstream petroleum revenue, which includes royalties, surface rentals and corporate taxes.