Government has hedged the price of its share of crude oil from the Jubilee Field. It is pegged at 107 dollars a barrel. Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffour disclosed this to newsmen after the inauguration of the National Risk Management Committee. Ghana has so far earned about 227 million dollars from the sale of almost 2 million barrels of crude at around 110 dollars a barrel. “We want to make sure that the price we have put in the budget…does not suffer,” Dr Duffour said. The team charged with managing the hedging of the country’s crude oil purchases has meanwhile began work. Its nine members are expected to make recommendations to government on how the program should be implemented. The team will also monitor the performance and put in place adequate controls. Inaugurating the committee, the Finance Minister noted the broad aim of the policy is to ensure some stability in the economy. “Let me emphasise that our risk management programme is primarily an insurance programme; it’s not going to be a sophisticated hedging,” he indicated. Members are drawn from the Bank of Ghana, Finance and Energy Ministries and the Attorney General’s Department, the National Petroleum Authority and private energy experts. The institutions expected to partner government in the arrangement include Standard Chartered Bank, BP International and BNP Paribas and Citigroup. The hedge price would be reviewed every month. Source: Joy Business/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana