Parliament has been kept in the dark over recent developments in the oil and as upstream sector, says Moses Asaga, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy. "The plan of development (POD)and the unitization agreements approved by government over four months ago have not been shown to Parliament. "We know that in the previous administration, oil sector contracts were done in the Castle; the same is happening now while Parliament, the body that approved Petroleum Agreements, is not being informed about these deals," Asaga said. Making a presentation at the World Bank Development Dialogue Series workshop in Accra, on the theme Potential Impacts of Oil and Gas for Ghana, Asaga disclosed that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has not briefed the country's Legislature about the Jubilee field's gas commercialization or farm-ins that have resulted in changes to participation interests in the Jubilee operations. Agitation for increased transparency in the oil sector has heightened following counter-accusations between the GNPC and Kosmos Energy over a lack of openness in a deal that would have seen ExxonMobil snapping up Kosmos' stakes in Ghana's offshore, at an estimated value of US$4 billion including its 23.491 % interest in the Jubilee unit. Asaga also complained that the new draft petroleum law, which was about 70 percent complete and had been presented to Parliament by the previous administration before the 2008 elections, "has now been held captive by the new administration." "The Executive should not wait till production of oil commences, or is just about to, before they submit these documents to Parliament - and in the process put undue pressure on legislators in the performance of their duty," he cautioned. Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Kwabena Donkor, said some of the agreements bordered on confidentiality as they were of a commercial nature, which therefore calls for respecting the commercial interest of field partners. “We must recognize that Anadarko and Tullow are both public-listed companies and, therefore, our comments can impact their stock values, while confidential agreements with them also ought to be safeguarded," Donkor said. He also emphasized that processes involved in presenting bills to Parliament means the Attorney General's Department is responsible for the final wording of the drafts, and that could take some time, indicating that his Ministry has completed most of the work on the new petroleum law. The Omanhene of Esikado Nana Nketia V questioned the rationale behind keeping Parliament in the dark with regard to agreements on the oil sector. "If Parliament can be marginalized in this all-important sector of our economy, then where do we, ordinary citizens, stand?" he asked. Moses Asaga said there is a need to de-link Parliament from the Executive. "In a situation where Parliamentarians are looking to the Executive for Ministerial appointments, they cannot be expected to always act in accordance with their better judgment. That leaves room for the Executive to manipulate the Legislature through the chief whip in Parliament, who rallies party-members for the passage of bills when it becomes necessary,” Asaga revealed. Source: B&FT