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The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has called for a speedy passage of the Right to Information Bill and the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill.

The IEA believes the bills when passed will help enhance the progress of the economy.

During the IEA 2015 Petroleum Transparency and Accountability (P-TRAC) forum at the Institute's Conference Hall in Accra, the Institute outlined some initiatives that can help to revamp the petroleum sector.

The 2015 report by the IEA highlighted some challenges confronting the oil and gas sector.

"Despite the current low prices for crude oil, petroleum resources will continue to be significant in Ghana’s economic development in the medium term due to the number of projects in the pipeline. These developments underscore the need to improve the level of transparency and accountability in the management of the revenues..."

It is in respect of this that the IEA on Wednesday held a stakeholders' meeting to discuss the way forward in preserving Ghana's oil.

According to the Institute, though the Government of Ghana has made tremendous strides in the petroleum sector by achieving the 5-year milestone as an oil exporter; however the nation must put certain measures in place to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of revenues accrued to the benefit of Ghanaians.

"The overall goals of the P-TRAC project are to promote transparency and accountability in the management of Ghana’s petroleum resources and to enhance the level of responsibility on the part of the policymakers and implementers," the report read.

It also raised concerns over government's contracts and licenses as well as revenue, expenditure and Ghana's Petroleum Funds (GPFs).

"We have observed steady progress in efforts to improve revenue transparency over the previous reports. The main improvements have come from the frequency and availability of reports. However, we did not find any improvement in the quality of the reports. One component of revenue transparency where there is much room for improvement is the Institutional Environment.

Future progress in this area will depend on how soon Parliament can pass two important pieces of legislation that currently lie before it. The Bills in question are the Right to Information Bill and the Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill, both of which have gone past the first reading stage. Speedy passage of these Bills will significantly help to improve transparency and accountability in the industry. Other Bills that are currently in draft form include the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Bill and the Marine Pollution Bill. We strongly advocate the passage of these Bills."

Advising the government on the award of contracts and licenses, the IEA advocated a "more open and transparent process of awarding contracts and licenses...We urge the government to adequately resource Parliament and the other oversight agencies to enable them more effectively discharge their duties under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act."

The Institute also called on government to fast-track the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Bill, and the Marine Pollution Bill to improve governance in the petroleum sector.