Two foreign companies have applied to the government for licence to prospect for oil at Bokakole (Boka Agloe), a town in the Western Region with a history of commercial oil production and export dating back to the 19th Century. The companies, Afren, a Nigerian company, and Celtique Energie, an English company; have completed negotiations with the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) but the contract is yet to be formalised as it is going through the due process of approval. Afren, founded by a management team including Dr Rilwanu Lukman, former Secretary and President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has interests in other African countries including Angola, Gabon, Congo, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire, as well as Sao Tome and Principe, while Celtique Energy has operations in Switzerland, Germany, Poland and France. Presently, there are indications that the agreement is before the Cabinet and once it obtains approval, it will be for¬warded to Parliament. A source at the GNPC told the Daily Graphic that the government was committed to ensuring that Ghanaians obtained the best possible terms, stressing that what had happened in other countries where the people had been exploited would not happen here. The source said the prospecting agreement was for a period of seven years and if a discovery was made, an additional 23 more years would be allowed for expiration. The source debunked the notion that all that Ghanaians had to hope for in the oil deal struck recently with Kosmos was 10 per cent and explained that there were other profit and tax related benefits that worked way above the 10 per cent stake being bandied around by some people. Commenting on the environmental situation at Bokakole as a result of the seepage of oil and the subsequent pollution of the Domuli Lagoon, the source stated that it was an issue that would be difficult to address, considering the fact that the oil was coming from the ground, stressing that there was rather the need to educate the local people on the need to avoid using water from the lagoon. It would be recalled that the Daily Graphic reported in its March 15, 2008 issue that there was abundant and clear evidence of commercial oil drilling in the country in the latter parts of the 19th Century at Bokakole, a small community in the Jomoro District in the Western Region, till the Second World War. Source: Daily Graphic