Ghana’s state-owned oil company, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has denied allegations of ‘bribe taking’ from South Africa’s PetroSA, as reports from investigations in the latter country suggest.

According to the reports, PetroSA, which is currently under investigations for the purchase of Sabre Oil’s stake in Ghana’s Jubilee Oil field, paid about $20 million more to acquire the stake – 4.05 percent of the deep water Tano Block as well as 1.7 percent  in the offshore Jubilee field –  much of which went into bribing officials both in South Africa and the West African country.

PetroSA, in response, admitted some improprieties occurred in its bid to secure the deal, noting that it was “competing for these opportunities against many established players.” But the GNPC in a statement has denied taking any bribes from the South African company.

An influential think-tank in Ghana, IMANI, is already mounting pressure on Ghana’s President John Mahama to set up a committee to investigate the GNPC .

In a statement, Ghana’s national oil company said “GNPC categorically denies any act of irregularity or corruption on its part in the transaction. The sale of Sabre’s interests in Ghana to PetroSA was a private commercial arrangement between two independent and willing parties (seller and buyer) dictated by international norms. GNPC did not play any role in the pricing and sale negotiations”.

The statement further implied that GNPC’s role in the transaction was limited to ensuring that the requirements of the Petroleum Agreements were duly complied with, including the fact that “PetroSA would be able to meet the financial capability and technical competency obligations that it would be assuming.”