The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and its subsidiary, GNPC Explorco, have refuted claims circulating in the media regarding Springfield Exploration and Production Limited’s interest in the West Cape Three Points Block 2.

The statements follow reports suggesting that GNPC and Explorco executives provided outdated data for the valuation of the block, leading to questions about potential overpayment of state funds.

Responding to the claims, GNPC and Explorco emphasised that “the Sewell report contains a disclaimer and states that the data used in the report was provided by Springfield solely.”

They added that Springfield did not communicate its intention to submit the data to Sewell for valuation, meaning “GNPC and Explorco had no knowledge of Springfield procuring this report.”

The corporations stressed that they could not have supplied the 2024 appraisal data, which some critics claimed was withheld.

On concerns that the valuation relied on the same dataset that previously led Ghana into arbitration, GNPC and Explorco reiterated that “it was Springfield’s sole decision to supply the 2020 GNPC data.”

They also clarified that Sewell’s use of the 2020 estimates was beyond their control, pointing out that “neither GNPC nor Explorco was responsible for providing the 2020 data.”

The agencies strongly rejected claims of a conspiracy to inflate the asset’s value, stating that “GNPC has not valued Springfield’s asset at US$700 million and has also not advised the Government to pay Springfield on the basis of any such valuation.”

They assured that the Government is conducting a “transparent process to engage a competent technical entity and a Transaction advisor to conduct an independent technical and commercial valuation” using up-to-date data, adding that all decisions are taken “in the best interest of the people of Ghana.”