The ongoing rebranding of the Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) offers the country a crucial opportunity to remake its recently dented image, as a credible investment destination, industry observers have said. The evaluation process of shortlisted PR companies is being mutely but keenly observed by both local and international media as the six finalists pitch the evaluation committee throughout Thursday and today. "The contract sum may not be much compared to other contracts in Ghana's oil sector, which has however seen much controversy in recent times as to warrant close scrutiny to assure the international community of the country's commitment to fairness in its oil industry," an analyst told B&FT. Knowledgeable analysts estimate the contract sum for the rebranding to be anywhere between US$200,000 and US$500,000. Problematic issues in the country's oil and gas sector include current apprehension of the World Bank Group over the circumstances under which a US$5 million contract was awarded to Strategic Oil and Gas Resources Limited (StratOil). Other thorny issues involve the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation's (GNPC) contentions over Jubilee player Kosmos Energy's alleged breach of confidentiality by sharing proprietary data with other parties without GNPC's consent, leading to the blocking of Kosmos' intended sale of its Jubilee asset to ExxonMobil. Aker Solutions of Norway, another upstream entrant in Ghana's offshore, is contending the annulment of its oil block license, which government attributed to a dodgy auction that did not meet international standards of transparency and fairness in the bidding process. ''We're looking to ensure that a successful bidder emerges based on merit, in terms of expertise and track record, thus assuring us of value for money," a GOIL official told B&FT emphasizing the need to ensure transparency in order not to jeopardize the company's long term ambitions. GOIL's main objectives in its rebranding effort, as stated in its tender documents, are to increase its market share from 18 percent to 40 percent over the next decade, to position the company as the preferred OMC in the country, the West African sub-region and the world. GOIL officials are tight-lipped over the identity of the six shortlisted companies, but B&FT can reliably report that Brand Union (SA), HKLM, Lowe Lyntas, and Stratcom are among the chosen. Of the 24 companies that picked up the US$200 bid forms, 17 submitted proposals. Several international companies from South Africa, Greece, Israel and USA, aside of Ghanaian companies, showed interest. "The management of the evaluation process will be the litmus test of Ghana's commitment to the promotion of transparency in its oil sector," said one analyst who expressed dismay at some blatant lapses during the submission of bids. It took over four months to decide on the six finalists, though the time frame given for that exercise was two months. Implicitly, all tender securities - two percent of budget - would have expired by now. The evaluation criteria awards 30 points for Proposal, 20 points to Credentials, and 10 points each to Resources - in house capacity, Transfer of skills, Pricing, and Margin of preference for locals. Knowledgeable observers have said that Ghana's recent downgrading in its local and foreign currency, credit ratings has more to do with challenges in its oil sector. A significant number of experts hold that the drop from B+ to B in Standard & Poor's credit rating is largely due to political risks, specifically, to perceived disregard of government for the sanctity of contractual agreements, as well as a lack of transparency in the award of contracts. This is buttressed by the fact that Ghana's fiscal and current-account' deficits, at around eight percent and 10 percent of GDP respectively in 2010, exceed that of similarly rated countries. In both instances the trough was reached in December 2008 and performance has since improved, most notably on the current account. Analysts say S&P's downgrade shows a loss of confidence in Ghana's ability to meet its policy objectives and in order to restore faith, the passage of legislation for petroleum management, and freedom of information, will be key to ensuring transparency and fairness in the country's oil and gas sector. Source: B&FT