Government has been advised to halt plans to mortgage the untapped crude oil at West Cape Three points in the Tano Basin of the Western Region. Information reaching The Statesman indicates that government, through the Ministry of Energy is planning to trade off huge quantity of crude oil from reputable oil firms in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea and pay back on a barter base when actual oil production commences in 2010. An official of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, on a condition of anonymity, told The Statesman that the issue is being considered without the Knowledge of GNPC officials who he said have much technical knowledge about oil exploration, trading and distribution. He warned that such a decision could cause financial loss to the country as happened in the 1990s when GNPC hedged crude oil and recorded a huge loss in their operations. "We lost billions of cedis in hedging and this resulted in GNPC going through several financial challenges. With it serving as a caution, I think we must think about this issue once again,” he advised. While government officials described the option as laudable since it will not demand any upfront payment from government, the private sector believes that government would in future lose heavy capital as prices of crude oil continue to escalate on the world market and mortgage partners will only demand crude oil either than cash based on the agreement. According to oil experts, if Ghana could go through this difficult era of transformation and focus on effective planning on how best it could explore and distribute its wealth; it stands a chance of recouping all the expenses made on lifting crude oil for domestic use. Ghana is presently faced with challenges in its quest to lift adequate crude oil for domestic use with the escalating prices of crude oil. Lifting a quantity of crude oil per annum for US$500 million until three years ago the Tema oil Refinery today lifts the same quantity of oil for US2.6 billion per annum; hence government's, determination to mortgage its untapped deposits to reduce the pressure on the state budget.. Source: Statesman