Tullow Ghana Limited (TGL) says Petroleum Commission has not raised any red flag over its decision to pre-qualify 39 companies for a drilling tender despite a contrary report in the media.

The company said no directive has been given by the Commission for the tendering process for the rig contract to be halted.

This was contained in a statement released by the company Tuesday that contradicts a story carried by The New Statesman newspaper captioned 'Corruption at Petroleum Commission' published on April 27.

In the said publication, the newspaper is alleged to have reported that the Petroleum Commission had ordered Tullow Ghana to withhold its rig contract tendering process.

But Tullow said the said article contained several factual inaccuracies about the company and the contract.

"The Commission has not instructed TGL to award any drilling contract to any entity including Rigworld as alleged in the article," the statement said.

It added that "Tullow is not aware of any special interest by the Commission in Rigworld and has not been pressured to award contracts to any “special companies” as alleged."

Tullow said it complied strictly with its internal procurement rules, standards as well as applicable laws in Ghana, United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and United Kingdom Anti-Bribery Act in the issuance of the contract.

It has assured all its stakeholders and contractors that its procurement processes are "transparent, subject to stringent regulations and are designed to share prosperity with Local Companies."