(1) A body corporate shall not, unless otherwise provided in this Act, engage in the exploration, development and production of petroleum except in accordance with the terms of a petroleum agreement entered into between that body corporate, the Republic of Ghana and the Corporation.

(2) A contractor shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, carry out petroleum activities in the contract area as provided in the petroleum agreement.

(3) A petroleum agreement shall only be entered into after an open, transparent and competitive public tender process.

(4) Despite subsection (3), the Minister may on stated reasons decide not to enter into a petroleum agreement after the tender process as prescribed.

(5) Where all or part of the area offered for tender in a public tender process has not become the subject of a petroleum agreement, but the Minister determines that it is in the public interest for that area to be subjected to a petroleum agreement, the Minister may initiate direct negotiations with a qualified body corporate for a petroleum agreement.

(6) the minister shall publish an invitation to tender or an invitation for direct negotiation in the Gezette and in at least two state-owned daily newspaper and may publish the invitation in any other of public communication

 (7) A body corporate who wishes to submit a bid or participate in negotiations shall submit an expression of interest to the Minister, as prescribed.

(8) Where the Minister receives more than one expression of interest, a tender process in accordance with subsection (3) shall be undertaken.

(9) Despite subsection (3), the Minister may, in consultation with the Commission, determine that a petroleum agreement may be entered into by direct negotiations without public tender, where direct negotiations represent the most efficient manner to achieve optimal exploration, development and production of petroleum resources in a defined area.

(10) The Republic may enter into a petroleum agreement with a body corporate that has the requisite technical competence and financial capacity to fulfil the obligations of the petroleum agreement and other requirements as prescribed.

(11) The Minister may require a consortium as a condition for entering into a petroleum agreement.

(12) The Minister shall represent the Republic of Ghana in the negotiation of the terms of a petroleum agreement and shall enter into a petroleum agreement on behalf of the Republic.

(13) A petroleum agreement entered i11to by the Minister shall not be effective if it is not ratified by Parliament in accordance with article 268 of the Constitution. (14) A petroleum agreement shall contain a term that the Corporation shall

(a) hold an initial participating carried interest of at least fifteen per cent for exploration and development, and

(b) have the option to acquire an additional participating interest as determined hi the petroleum agreement which

(i) may be exercised within a specified period of time following the declaration of commercial discovery, and

(ii) shall be a paying interest in respect of costs incurred in the conduct of petroleum activities other than exploration costs.

(15) Any borrowing exceeding the cedi equivalent of thirty million United States Dollars for the purpose of exploration, development and production shall be approved by Parliament and shall be in consonance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815).