Ghana plans to revise its laws on oil and gas licences in an effort to spur production and will revoke licences from four companies that have not developed their assets, its deputy energy minister said on Wednesday.

Mohammed Amin Adam, Ghana’s deputy minister for petroleum, told Africa Oil Week in Cape Town that the proposed changes would allow companies producing in blocks to explore elsewhere in the same area without having to get a new licence.

The ministry sent the plans to parliament last Friday, he said. “We are changing our strategy,” Adam said, adding they had provisions in law that “constrain investment”.

They would also allow companies to continue exploring in marginal fields even once their licence had expired. Parliament has 21 days to review the regulatory changes, and Adam said he expected them to go forward without delay. He said revisions are needed urgently as the nation’s last bid round for 14 blocks “wasn’t so successful as we anticipated”, receiving fewer than four bids.

Selected by SPTEC Advisory from Reuters,