Ghana will join the League of Petroleum producing nations in December, this year, following the commercial production of oil scheduled to begin in November, Vice-president John Dramani Mahama has said. He said since the announcement of the first oil discovery was made in 2007, more discoveries had been made and conservative appraisal of the wells and available statistics based on credible scientific findings indicated that the country held potentially 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil. Making this known at the opening of the second in the series of the Graphic Business Round­ table in Accra yesterday, the Vice-President said estimates by many 'reputable organisations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, indicate that revenues based on cur­ rent reserves could account for about seven per cent of the country's GDP. "This means that Ghana cannot see the oil industry as a miracle wand to solve all the challenges of our economic development," he stressed. Rather, he suggested that the country could prudently use that resource to achieve a significant economic turnaround, saying that "the oil industry can therefore, serve as a catalyst to 'drive economic growth and development". The one-day forum, which was on the theme: "Ghana's Emerging Oil Economy: Prospects and Challenges," coincided with the 60th anniversary celebration of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), and was attended by 350 high profile participants drawn from the oil and gas sec­ tor, seasoned economists and bankers, corporate leaders and politicians. To make maximum utilisation of the oil resources, the Vice-President said, the government had decided to partner the private sector to put in place the infrastructure to develop a petro-chemical industry. "That is why the government has entrenched avenue Management Bill, will make it easier to monitor the inflows and outflows of petroleum revenues and ensure transparency and account­ ability of oil resources. The Vice-President said the proposed law also prohibited oil from being used as a guarantee to secure loans .from multilateral and bilateral sources. He said that the proposed law did not also make recommendations for cash -distribution .of revenue to individuals or any fixed percentage payments to regions outside of existing mechanisms of resource transfer within the context of the national budget. "It is expected that all petroleum receipts shall be treated as separate accounts-to be held at and accounted for by the Bank of Ghana," he said. The Vice-President noted that the government had committed itself to extending the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to the oil and gas sector to further ensure transparency and good governance in the use of oil and gas venues. The EITI, which is currently being applied in the mining industry, encourages the publication of revenues received by stakeholders, such as the government, the communities and mining companies. The Vice-President said the government would not abandon or reduce spending on the development of agriculture, a sector which employs about 60 per cent of the nation's labour force, because of the commercial production of oil and noted that the government had plans to let that sector contribute eight, per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Mr Mahama said a situation where countries failed to develop their agricultural and industrial sectors and also failed to tackle rural-urban disparities just because massive-amounts of 'petrol dollars' started flowing into their economies would not be allowed to happen under the Mills’ administration. The Vice-President said the government had learnt useful lessons from countries that misused their oil revenues and those' who successfully oiled their economies such as Trinidad and Toba- go' and Norway, " "Ghana will, therefore, continue to develop the cocoa and timber sectors through value addition whilst supporting the growth of non-traditional export commodities," he noted. Mr Mahama said the government prioritised the importance of safety and environmental protection, citing the lessons' of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as "a signal to us that we must put in place a mechanism to closely monitor safety environmental issues", He commended the board, management and staff of the GCGL for its national agenda-setting policy. The Board Chairman GCGL, Mr Emmanuel Baba Mahama, stressed the need for the country to ensure that the oil find would be a blessing rather than a curse. The Managing Director of the company, Mr Ibrahim Awal, said the GCGL would continue to create platforms to discuss and shape the orientation 'of the public on development issues. Source: Daily Graphic