In a recent social media post, Counsel to the President of the Republic, Kow Essuman, clarified the outcome of an arbitration case involving Eni Ghana Exploration and Production Ltd, Vitol Upstream Ghana Ltd, the Republic of Ghana, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
He highlighted key points from the 145-page decision issued under the 1976 Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Essuman emphasized that none of the financial claims made by Eni and Vitol were granted by the tribunal. This decision marks a significant win for Ghana and GNPC, countering the arbitration action filed by the claimants.
He urged Ghanaians to disregard any misinformation or disinformation circulating about the arbitration outcome. “This is the operative part of the arbitration award. In other words, the most important part of the arbitration award which will be implemented by the parties to the arbitration,” Essuman stated in his post.
According to Essuman, paragraph 489 of the arbitration award reveals that all the reliefs sought by Eni and Vitol were dismissed.
However, the tribunal did declare that the unitisation directives issued by Ghana breached the petroleum agreement, necessitating the issuance of new directives that comply with the agreement. The tribunal also ordered Ghana to pay its share of the arbitration costs, amounting to €189,900, while each party will bear its own costs.
“For the avoidance of doubt and to dispel any mischief from certain quarters, which I have seen circulating on social media, please note that there were no monetary damages awarded against Ghana. Eni/Vitol’s claim of $7 billion was dismissed entirely,” Essuman clarified.
Eni and Vitol initially claimed $7 billion in their statement of claim. However, during the arbitration hearing in Paris, Ghana, represented by its Attorney General, successfully challenged the figures. Consequently, Eni and Vitol reduced their claim to $915 million in their post-hearing brief submitted in November 2023.
“The tribunal dismissed the claim for monetary damages entirely,” Essuman reiterated. He called for accurate reporting of facts, stressing, “We have one Republic called Ghana. Let’s be accurate in reporting facts.”