The Japanese firm that built and operates the main vessel producing Ghana’s crude oil in the Jubilee Field says it is confident no laws were broken in the award of a contract to Strategic Oil and Gas Resources Limited. MODEC posted a statement on its website in response to recent reports about ongoing corruption investigations by US authorities which could have implications for the Jubilee project. “Further to the request of the prospective equity partners in the Jubilee FPSO, MODEC commissioned an independent investigation into its service agreement with its contractor. “Following a thorough enquiry into this matter, conducted over the last five months, by a well recognized law firm specializing in such matters, independently retained for this purpose by MODEC Board, this investigation has found no evidence of any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or any other applicable jurisdiction’s anti-bribery laws in relation to its arrangement. “MODEC will provide an update as matters develop,” the statement concluded. MODEC is being investigated by the US authorities for the award of a contract to Strategic Oil and Gas Resources Limited which is partly owned by former GNPC boss Tsatsu Tsikata. The investigations could have implications for the country’s ability to continue production of crude oil to the extent that MODEC which built and operates the FPSO will have a difficulty with its financiers, at least for as long as it lingers. And these are concerns put out by Jubilee partner, Kosmos Energy in its application to list publicly in the US. It says "as a result of the concerns, MODEC's long-term funding from a syndicate of international banks for the repayment of funds originally loaned by [Kosmos, along with partners] Tullow Oil PLC and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to pay for the construction of the FPSO has been suspended pending this investigation. If MODEC cannot access funding, partners in the field "may be required to contribute more funds before September 15 this year in order to purchase the FPSO outright or find an alternative funding source or buyer. The company quotes in the statement, "if we were unable to do so and lost access to the MODEC FPSO, we would be unable to produce hydrocarbons from the Jubilee Field unless and until we arranged access to an alternative FPSO." Source: Joy Business/Ghana