Ghana’s leading indigenous oil marketing company, GOIL Company Ltd has rejected the claim by the association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC) that it has been directed by the government to reduce fuel prices at the pump.
GOIL reminded the Association that it is a listed company with a constituted board of directors and management and takes decisions based on prudent commercial principles.
Aside from this, GOIL said it is guided by the fact that the company is owned by Ghanaians and that has always influenced their pricing policy.
It would be recalled that on November 23, 2021, GOIL reduced its pump prices by 14 pesewas from GHS6.99 per litre to GHS 6.85 per litre for both Super XP (petrol) and diesel.
Energynewsafrica.com’s had information last week that the company planned to cushion Ghanaians further and was considering announcing reduction in fuel prices on Tuesday, December 7, 2021.
However, on Monday, some radio stations reported that the government had directed GOIL to reduce fuel prices.
This claim sparked controversy among Oil Marketing Companies.
In a statement signed by Group CEO and Managing Director of GOIL Company Ltd, Kwame Osei Prempeh, the company said it decided to sacrifice part of its margin to benefit its cherished customers and Ghanaians because of the agitations by transport operators in the country.
GOIL said it is surprising that the AOMC found its voice and the audacity to make such a claim and challenge them to substantiate it.
The company said the action by the AOMC amounts to gross disrespect and contempt, therefore, has decided to suspend its membership.
“GOIL is a responsible company fully aware of the deregulated environment in which we operate. The allegation that government is interfering in the industry is unfounded and baseless. GOIL has the right as any other OMC to determine prices, the statement said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has cut electricity supply to Yilo and Manya Krobo Municipalities in eastern Ghana.
This has left the area without a power supply for three days now.
According to a release issued by the ECG, it said it came to their attention that parts of the area were experiencing outages.
The ECG said its investigations revealed that some unscrupulous persons had transferred customers from a transformer with a phase of the problem to adjacent transformers, thereby, overloading them and destroying several transformers within the communities.
The ECG condemned the total hijack of its network, saying it is unacceptable.
“Given the ongoing interference in our network as a result of the scaling down of our operations in the Krobo area which was necessitated by the threat to our staff, ECG has decided to shut down the feeders at the Bulk Supply Point (BSP) directly feeding the communities to protect our network, lives and properties of innocent customers and the general public within the Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo communities,” ECG said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The lack of investments into the oil industry is steering the world toward scarcity, one of the world’s largest oilfield service providers warned on Monday.
A global oil scarcity is on the horizon, the U.S. oilfield service provider said, after seven years of underinvestment after oil prices slide from their $100 heyday in 2014, Bloomberg reported.
“For the first time in a long time, we’ll see a buyer looking for a barrel of oil as opposed to a barrel of oil looking for a buyer,” Haliburton’s CEO Jeff Miller cautioned.
Miller added that the Houston-based service provider has seen crude explorers cut their spending by roughly half compared with historical norms, and the hired hands from the oil patch have been impacted by rising costs.
Meanwhile, oil producers have taken this opportunity to return oilfield profits to their shareholders instead of reinvesting into drilling.
It is this latter issue that will inevitably cause oil a tight market in the future, according to Miller.
But it’s more than just investment that could create an oil scarcity.
Only a week ago, oil firms were said to be facing a workforce crunch as the renewables industry is looking rather fetching.
According to a survey conducted by Oilandgasjobsearch.com, more than half of all oil workers are looking to make a move to renewables.
About 43% of all oil and gas workers have a desire to leave the industry altogether within the next five years.
Halliburton last week was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America—which includes the top 10% most sustainable companies in each industry based on ESG criteria.
Using this criteria, Halliburton—present in over 70 countries–ranked in the 90th percentile among its peers.
Source:Oilprice.com
Ghana’s southern electricity distribution company, ECG, has closed down its district office in Somanya which serves residents of Manya and Yilo Krobo Municipalities in the eastern part of the West African nation.
The decision follows recent agitations by the youth group in the area and threats to the lives of the staff of ECG.
ECG explained that the decision was arrived at to protect the lives of its staff since they are being threatened by the youth in the area.
According to ECG, a new district office at Juapong will serve residents of Yilo and Manya Krobo Municipalities.
It would be recalled that on Monday, November 22, 2021, over 7000 residents in Manya and Yilo Krobo Municipalities hit the streets to protest against the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The protesters, who were clad in red attire, marched through the principal streets to demand an immediate cessation of electricity supply from ECG to the areas.
The protesters rather wanted the country’s largest state power generation company, VRA, to supply electricity to their areas, as according to them, ECG has been unfair in dealing with them.
They claim their ancestors were promised free electricity during the construction of the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam.
However, they have not to be able to substantiate their claim when challenged by both the power generation companies, Volta River Authority and Electricity Company of Ghana.
Addressing a press conference in Tema on Monday, December 6, 2021, the Tema General Manager for ECG, Ing. Emmanuel Akinie accused the youth groups of bad faith since there has been extensive engagement to resolve issues regarding electricity bills.
“After all these efforts and final resolution of the impasse as evidenced by the preparation and signing of the report, the youth groups continued organizing town meetings and inciting the public against payment of electricity bills,” Ing Akini stated.
He said management cannot risk the lives of any of their hardworking staff in such an unsafe environment.
“Owing to the very serious security threats against the ECG staff in parts of Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo municipalities, reliability of power supply in that enclave will be dependent on the availability of full police escort for ECG’s engineers to attend to power supply challenges.”
He said ECG would continue to provide quality, safe and reliable electricity services to the other parts of the ECG district where the security of staff and installations are guaranteed.
He said ECG has officially requested the Inspector General of Police and all National Security agencies to provide adequate security for all staff of ECG and all of ECG’s installations and facilities within the affected enclave.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has dismissed top management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) over a strike action by the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).
The action by the workers left areas serviced by the AEDC without power for hours on Monday.
The areas serviced by the company are the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger states.
The workers were protesting over unpaid allowances, salaries and unremitted pension deductions.
In a statement released by Ofem Uket, media aide of the Minister of State for Power, on Tuesday, it said the President has approved a new interim governing board to oversee the day-to-day operations of the company.
“The presidential directives as conveyed also directed the Bureau of Public Enterprises to set up a new management team of the AEDC,” the statement said.
“In a memorandum of understanding (MOU) jointly signed by the Minister of State Power, Goddy Jedy Agba, the chairman, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sanusi Garba, Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Alex Okoli, Comrade Joe Ajaero on behalf of the union, the Federal Government ordered the suspension of the strike [and asked to] given 21 days within which the outstanding emoluments and entitlements of staff will be paid.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has opened a new district office in Juapong in the North Tongu District in the Volta Region.
The new fully-fledged district office will cater for customers in seven political districts namely Ho West, Asuogyaman, North Tongu, Shai Osudoku, Lower Manya Krobo, Yilo Krobo and Okere.
The services which will be available in the new Juapong office include payment of electricity bills; reporting of electricity faults; reporting of illegal connections; reconciliation of billing anomalies; provision of customer educational material on ECG’s operations; tips on efficient uses of electricity; applications for new service connections; applications for separate meter connections, general enquiries about electricity issues, and other related services.
Speaking at the commissioning of the district office, the Managing Director of ECG, Mr Kwame Agyeman-Budu said: “Our well-trained and dedicated staff are on hand to serve customers in the aforementioned areas.
“With the opening of this District Office today, we have created the necessary convenience for our customers who, hitherto, had to travel long distances to Somanya to access ECG’s services,” he explained.
He added that the best of ECG’s services have been brought right to Juapong and its environs.
Mr Agyeman-Budu explained that ECG has not relocated the Krobo District office from Somanya to Juapong because of the impasse between them and the youth groups in Yilo and Manya Krobo area.
He made a passionate appeal to all customers to pay their bills promptly and in full.
The Tema General Manager of ECG, Ing. Emmanuel Akinie said due to ECG’s mission of becoming a customer-focused energy service provider by 2024, it is believed that bringing services closer to customers would help ease travel time for them, as well as travel time on the company’s side especially where faults are concerned, thereby, creating a much more enabling working relationship between ECG and its customers to be served by the District Office.
Ing. Emmanuel Akinie, Tema General Manager for ECG
He mentioned that areas such as Juapong, Volo, Vume, Dorfor Adidome, Torgome, Akwamufie, Apegusu, Mpakadan, Asikuma, Anum, Boso, Kissiflui Norvisi, Kpota and surrounding areas would now have easier accessibility when it comes to transacting business with ECG.
“We are committed to providing convenience in all our service delivery as well as providing value-added services to meet the expectations of our customers. Through strategic decisions, we hope to work towards these expectations, our mission and vision,” he said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has recovered a total of GHC6,525,642 (1,059,357.45) from customers who engage in power theft or illegal connection.
The above figure was realised through the efforts of the National Task Force and ECG’s Revenue Protection Section.
Managing Director of ECG, Mr Kwame Agyeman-Budu, who disclosed this, said the Task Force, together with ECG’s Revenue Protection Section, has visited over 12,730 customers.
He said the team unearthed 1,537 illegal connections and recovered GHS6, 525,645.
The Task Force was constituted by Ghana’s Ministry of Energy to halt illegal connections.
Mr Agyeman-Budu who appealed to the public to assist in fighting this canker of illegal connections said ECG has a handsome reward package for informants who would give tip-offs for illegal connections.
According to him, informants would be given six per cent of the total monies to be recovered as a result of their patriotic duty.
“We assure the general public that the identities of all informants will be strictly protected at all times,” he assured.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s leading indigenous oil marketing company, GOIL Company Ltd, has announced a further 15 pesewas reduction in fuel prices at all its retail outlets across the country effective December 7, 2021.
This means that a litre of Super XP (Petrol) and Diesel XP will both sell at GHC6.70 from the previous GHS6.85 per litre.
According to the company, the latest reduction in fuel prices is intended to assuage the pain of transporters.
“The truth is fuel prices have gone up in the world over but GOIL decided to further reduce the prices after reducing prices in the last window,” the company said.
The new development comes barely two weeks after GOIL had reduced fuel prices from GHC6.99 per litre to GHC6.85.
In a notice to all GOIL dealers sighted by energynewsafrica.com, it said: “The ex-pump prices on the dispensing pumps at all automated stations in all zones will be changed remotely at 6 am sharp.
“The automated stations are, therefore, advised to take stocks and meter readings by 6 am sharp,” it concluded.
Fuel prices have been rising since the beginning of this year.
Fuel consumers have been lamenting with a call on the government to reduce the tax component on the commodity to cushion Ghanaians.
On Monday, commercial transport operators embarked on a sit-down strike in protest against the high cost of fuel, leaving thousands of commuters stranded.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Commercial transport operators in the Republic of Ghana, on Monday, embarked on a sit down strike in protest of the high cost of petrol and diesel.
Currently, both petrol and diesel are sold at around GHC6.90 per litre.
This, the drivers say is making them operate at a loss coupled with the high cost of spare parts.
The strike action left thousands of commuters stranded at various bus terminals across the country.
A visit to some of the transport terminals by the energynewsafrica.com team revealed some interesting scenes.
While some drivers played cards, others turned their terminal into a football pitch.
When the energynewsafrica.com team got to the Ashaiman transport terminal, the drivers and their mates were seen playing football in the station.
One driver said: “We voted for this government but look at how they’re treating us. Life has become unbearable. We will play football the whole day.”
Another driver said: “You can see a lot of commuters along the road. Almost everyone is trying to get a vehicle. For the drivers here, they are trying to enforce the strike. When the other drivers with passengers get to the station, they instruct the passengers to alight. The situation at Nii Boye Town is not a very pleasant one. A lot of people are now in a fix.”
Drivers at the Lapaz bus terminal had to also disembark passengers in commercial vehicles in a bid to enforce their sit-down strike.
In the Northern Region, commuters travelling to Tamale or Yendi were stranded at the station due to the strike.
Fuel prices in 2021 started at about GH¢5 per litre and are now threatening to cross the GH¢7 mark.
There are seven taxes on petroleum products which amount to GH¢1.9 on each litre of fuel purchased.
Energynewsafricam.com understands that the leadership of the transport unions have been called to the Presidency for a meeting in the afternoon.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The petroleum sector workers in the Republic of Nigeria have suspended a planned industrial action, energynewsafrica.com can report.
The suspension of the planned industrial action follows a commitment by the Buhari administration to address their grievances.
The petroleum workers announced the suspension in a statement issued by Williams Akporeha, President of Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Afolabi Olawale, General Secretary of the union, last Thursday, December 2, 2021.
NUPENG issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government over issues including non-payment of workers’ salaries and title benefits.
On November 25, NUPENG extended the two-week ultimatum by seven days.
The union commended the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for taking steps to resolve the impasse.
“NNPC’s management has once again proven to the union and the nation that it can be trusted in matters of ensuring decency of employment and peaceful industrial relations in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” NUPENG said.
The union said an agreement was reached on some of the issues that instigated the planned strike.
“Some of the resolutions from these engagements include the commencement of the processes to clear all backlogs of arrears of salaries and allowances owned contract workers of Oil Mining Licence 42 before the end of December,” it said.
“The agreement and firm commitment to pay N2.13 million to each of the former employees of the six big contractors whose terminal benefits were short-paid in 2012 following the closure of the contract.”
NUPENG said it would ensure that petroleum products are available nationwide during the yuletide.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, has met with H.E. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo, to discuss accelerating regional energy cooperation among CEMAC member states and within the Global South.
The meeting addressed growing South-South cooperation and encouraged the establishment of a more robust regional energy sectorable to meet the needs of the citizens of Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) member states.
H.E. President Nguesso was also accompanied by Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons H.E. Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, who held his own bilateral meeting with H.E. Minister Lima. Both oil ministers participated in the CEMAC Energy Business Forum in Brazzaville, which took place in November 29-30 and seeking to foster discussions among regional stakeholders and accelerate sustainable, regional energy growth.
The Republic of the Congo is not the only country at the forefront of Equatorial Guinea’s campaign to expand cross-border cooperation. In September, H.E. Minister Lima met with Cameroonian President H.E. Paul Biya to boost cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector and enhance commercial exchanges between CEMAC member countries, with a view to driving economic development within the region.
Intra-African cooperation is being positioned as the key to unlocking Africa’s energy prosperity, able to increase investors’ confidence, trigger large-scale projects that individual countries could not support alone, and generate a more active African influence within the global energy community.
The CEMAC region, comprising six states including Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea, is home to prolific oil and natural gas resources and some of Africa’s largest energy developments.
Both the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea are members of OPEC and represent the third- and sixth-largest oil producers on the continent, respectively. Both countries have embarked on ambitious reforms to make their national energy sectors more competitive on a global scale.
For Equatorial Guinea, this includes a revised Hydrocarbon Law announced in September and focused on attracting oil investment into the country’s sector, as well as the establishment of a regional Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) trade through its flagship Gas Mega Hub and LNG2Africa initiatives.
The Republic of the Congo’s Gas Master Plan also aims to maximize resources through LNG developments, in addition to driving oil developments.
The Management of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company in the Republic of Ghana has hinted at dismissing ten of its staff at the Kumasi Depot in the Ashanti Region should they be found to have played a role in the recent fuel adulteration involving ten trucks.
Other staff who may not necessarily be dismissed will face other forms of punishment, Managing Director of the company, Edwin Alfred Provencal explained.
The ongoing investigations into the fuel adulteration incident is covering all staff who were on duty at Pump Station One and other vantage points or sections on the day of the incident at the depot.
Edwin Provencal, who was addressing petroleum transporters in Accra, said management was patiently waiting for the outcome of the investigations by the security agencies to act on their report.
He told the transport owners that fuel tampering in transit by tanker drivers in the industry is causing the nation several millions of US Dollars.
He urgently appealed to the fuel truck owners to immediately take measures to put a stop to the practice or lose their business contracts with BOST.
The Managing Director further disclosed that the National Security is to start monitoring the movement of petroleum products from the company’s depots to stop fuel tampering.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
French energy giant TotalEnergies has started production at the CLOV Phase 2, a project connected to the existing CLOV FPSO located in Block 17 offshore Angola.
Located about 140 kilometres from the Angolan coast, in water depths from 1,100 to 1,400 meters, the CLOV Phase 2 resources are estimated at around 55 million barrels of oil equivalent.
TotalEnergies, the operator, informed on last Friday that the tie-back project will reach a production of 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in mid-2022.
Block 17 is operated by TotalEnergies with a 38 per cent stake, alongside Equinor (22.16 per cent), ExxonMobil (19 per cent), BP Exploration Angola (15.84 per cent) and Sonangol P&P (5 per cent). The contractor group operates four FPSOs in the main production areas of the block, namely Girassol, Dalia, Pazflor, and CLOV, which started production off Angola in 2014.
The French company pointed out that this project, launched in 2018, was carried out within budget and planned execution duration, despite the challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Henri-Max Ndong-Nzue, Senior Vice-President Africa, Exploration and Production at TotalEnergies, said: “The start of the production of CLOV Phase 2, a few months after Zinia Phase 2, demonstrates our continuous efforts to ensure a sustainable output on Block 17. This project fits within the company’s strategy to focus its upstream investments on low-cost projects which contribute to lower the average GHG emissions intensity of its production.”
The production from the Zinia Phase 2 short-cycle project, also in Block 17, started in early May 2021 through the existing Pazflor FPSO.
Belarmino Chitangueleca, acting President of the Angolan National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), commented: “CLOV Phase 2 start-up comes at the right time to sustain the national oil production. We value the performance of the operator and the contractor group to keep executing projects despite this crisis period.”
The update from TotalEnergies comes a week after BP started production at the Platina field in Block 18, which is located in the Angolan offshore, approximately 140 kilometres northeast of Luanda. The Platina field is expected to produce 30,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak and access an estimated 44 million barrels of oil reserves.
BP operates the field and holds a 46 per cent stake in Block 18, while China’s Sinopec has a 37.72 per cent stake and Angola’s national oil company Sonangol the remaining 16.28 per cent.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will continue with its supply adjustments for the oil market, the OPEC Secretary General said on Saturday.
“We will continue to do what we know best to ensure we attain stability in the oil market on a sustainable basis,” Mohammad Barkindo said in a webinar organised by Italian think-tank ISPI.
Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC and its allies stuck to their existing policy of monthly oil output increases despite fears a release from U.S. crude reserves and the new Omicron coronavirus variant would put renewed pressure on prices.
Barkindo said in terms of oil demand the estimate at the moment was for a growth of 5.7 million barrels per day.
“In 2022 we expect another 4.2 million,” he said.
He said the uncertainty and volatility on the markets was also due to extraneous factors such as the ongoing Covid pandemic and not necessarily the fundamentals of oil and gas.
“Now we are on course of returning the level of consumption in 2022 to pre-COVID levels,” he said.
Barkindo said that the forecast was for oil and gas to account for more than 50% of the global energy mix in 2045 or even to mid century.
“In all the pronouncements we had from Glasgow we have not yet seen any concrete road map or plans of how to replace this 50% … without creating unprecedented turmoil in the energy markets,” he said, referring to the Glasgow climate conference.
“Oil and gas will be needed for the foreseeable future.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
The ECG said its investigations revealed that some unscrupulous persons had transferred customers from a transformer with a phase of the problem to adjacent transformers, thereby, overloading them and destroying several transformers within the communities.
The ECG condemned the total hijack of its network, saying it is unacceptable.
“Given the ongoing interference in our network as a result of the scaling down of our operations in the Krobo area which was necessitated by the threat to our staff, ECG has decided to shut down the feeders at the Bulk Supply Point (BSP) directly feeding the communities to protect our network, lives and properties of innocent customers and the general public within the Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo communities,” ECG said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
“With the opening of this District Office today, we have created the necessary convenience for our customers who, hitherto, had to travel long distances to Somanya to access ECG’s services,” he explained.
He added that the best of ECG’s services have been brought right to Juapong and its environs.
Mr Agyeman-Budu explained that ECG has not relocated the Krobo District office from Somanya to Juapong because of the impasse between them and the youth groups in Yilo and Manya Krobo area.
He made a passionate appeal to all customers to pay their bills promptly and in full.
The Tema General Manager of ECG, Ing. Emmanuel Akinie said due to ECG’s mission of becoming a customer-focused energy service provider by 2024, it is believed that bringing services closer to customers would help ease travel time for them, as well as travel time on the company’s side especially where faults are concerned, thereby, creating a much more enabling working relationship between ECG and its customers to be served by the District Office.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
While some drivers played cards, others turned their terminal into a football pitch.
When the energynewsafrica.com team got to the Ashaiman transport terminal, the drivers and their mates were seen playing football in the station.
One driver said: “We voted for this government but look at how they’re treating us. Life has become unbearable. We will play football the whole day.”
Another driver said: “You can see a lot of commuters along the road. Almost everyone is trying to get a vehicle. For the drivers here, they are trying to enforce the strike. When the other drivers with passengers get to the station, they instruct the passengers to alight. The situation at Nii Boye Town is not a very pleasant one. A lot of people are now in a fix.”
Drivers at the Lapaz bus terminal had to also disembark passengers in commercial vehicles in a bid to enforce their sit-down strike.
In the Northern Region, commuters travelling to Tamale or Yendi were stranded at the station due to the strike.
Fuel prices in 2021 started at about GH¢5 per litre and are now threatening to cross the GH¢7 mark.
There are seven taxes on petroleum products which amount to GH¢1.9 on each litre of fuel purchased.
Energynewsafricam.com understands that the leadership of the transport unions have been called to the Presidency for a meeting in the afternoon.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
