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BUSINESS NEWS | GHANA AND BEYOND

For the period between June to August this year, the Government plans to issue securities to the tune of GH¢17.84 billion (gross), of which GH¢15.81 billion is to rollover maturities and the remaining GH¢2.03 billion is fresh issuance to meet Government’s financing requirements, the Bank of Ghana has said. The central bank said It expects that the 2020 June to August Calendar will meet the requirements of market participants. “We assure all stakeholders and the general public that we continue to strive for greater predictability and transparency in the domestic bond market,” the BoG said. As part of Government’s effort to improve market transparency in the issuance of Government securities, the BoG has released calendar for the perusal of the investing public.

Aker Energy Ghana Limited (“Aker Energy”) has entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Yinson Holdings Berhad (“Yinson”) to award a bare-boat charter and an operations and maintenance contract for a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel at the Pecan field, offshore Ghana. “We are continuing with our preparations for the Pecan project and awarding an LOI for the future contracts for the FPSO vessel is certainly a key milestone,” says Mr. Svein Jakob Liknes, CEO of Aker Energy. “As one of the world’s leading FPSO providers, we have a strong belief in Yinson’s ability to deliver on time, at the required quality, and to the highest safety standard.” The LOI follows a competitive tender and demonstrates Aker Energy’s intention to award the forthcoming bare-boat charter and operations and maintenance contract for the FPSO for the planned development of the Pecan field in the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) block offshore Ghana. The contracts will have a firm duration of ten years followed by five yearly extension options exercisable by Aker Energy as operator on behalf of the license partners Lukoil, Fueltrade and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

The soft loan package being offered by government in collaboration with selected financial institutions – universal banks, savings and loans companies, rural and community banks and microfinance institutions – is attracting strong interest from potential beneficiaries although it appears that applications may fall short of expected when the deadline expires at the end of this week. An estimated 170,000 businesses have so far applied for the GH¢1 billion stimulus package mobilized for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) according to the National Board for Small Scale Industries which is in charge of supervising the initiative. Government is putting up GH¢600 million to fund the initiative and the selected financial intermediation firms collaborating in its execution are expected to put up about GH¢400 million bringing the total funding to GH¢1 billion.

Oil futures finished with a more than 3% gain on Tuesday as a monthly report from the International Energy Agency forecast a record rise in demand for crude and its byproducts next year, but only after first dropping significantly in the current year. The International Energy Agency said that while the
world’s demand for crude will drop by 8.1 million barrels a day in 2020, “the largest in history,” demand in 2021 will bounce back by 5.7 million barrels a day, the “largest one-year jump ever recorded.”Against the backdrop, West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery, the U.S. benchmark, rose $1.26, or 3.4%, to settle at $38.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting highs above $39 during the session. Prices rose 2.4% on Monday.
Global benchmark Brent oil for August delivery BRNQ20, -0.53% picked up $1.24, or 3.1%, at $40.96 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe after gaining 2.6% in the previous session. A monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is due Wednesday, after the cartel and its allies, in a group known as OPEC+, agreed earlier this month to extend production cuts of nearly 10 million barrels per day through July and to review the status of adherence to those reductions monthly.

*Read more quality global energy related news on https://oilprice.com*

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