Nigerian independent Oranto Petroleum, with its partner Stone Energy, has still not honoured an outstanding surface rental invoice of $67,438.36 on a Ghanaian upstream acreage.
Ghana’s Public Interest Accountability Committee says that the debt had been incurred since February 2013.
But the Ghana Revenue Authority GRA explains that Oranto hasn’t paid, even when contacted.
“GRA must find and compel Oranto/Stone Energy to pay the outstanding invoice with applicable penalties for the period during which it has been in default”, the PIAC warns in its latest (2021) annual report.
“GRA has indicated that Oranto has been located in Angola, Chad, and Mozambique. It has subsequently made contact with the Company but no payment has been made”, PIAC explains in the report.
PIAC pleads with the Tax agency: “GRA should collaborate with the relevant authorities in these jurisdictions to retrieve the principal together with the interest. GRA must take this step 7 Authority, since the issue has assumed a crossborder dimension, it has escalated beyond the GRA, and is being handled at the ministerial/governmental level, as a matter of principle”.
