The Electricity Company of Ghana has restored power supply to the Yilo and Manya Krobo Municipalities in the Eastern Region after three weeks of disconnecting the area from the national grid.
Power supply was restored at about 5pm Friday but few minutes later there was power supply cut after ECG transformer in Somanya reportedly went up in flames as a result of power surge.
According to Tema Regional ECG Public Relations Officer, Sakyiwaa Mensah, ECG’s team quickly responded to the situation and has since fixed the problem.
She added that power supply was restored at about 9pm.
The Yilo and Manya Krobo Municipalities have been without power since July 27 amid a dispute over the installation of prepaid meters.
Residents in the area owe ECG an unpaid electricity bills of about Ghs168 million for a period of five years.
To stop the continuous accumulation of unpaid electricity bills ECG embarked on installation of pre-payment meters but the residents opposed the initiative through a series of protests and touched some of their installations.
This compelled the power distribution company to cut power supply to the area.
Speaking on TV3 on Friday night, the Municipal Chief Executive for Yilo Krobo, Simon Kweku Tetteh said there are few areas which are yet to have their supply restored.
He said ECG had promised to restore power to the affected areas on Saturday.
He commended the ECG, Ministry of Energy, Traditional Authorities and the national security for the role they all played to ensure that power supply was restored to the area.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
TotalEnergies, one of the leading oil marketing companies in the Republic of Ghana, has adjusted its fuel prices upward by 20 pesewas at the pump.
A litre of petrol (super) is now sold at Gh¢11.15 from Gh¢10.95 while diesel is sold at Gh¢13.50 from Gh¢13.30.
Star oil has also adjusted its pump prices with dieseling selling at Gh¢12.98 per litre while petrol is sold at Gh¢10.67 per litre.
As of Thursday, energynewsafrica.com’s checks revealed that only TotalEnergies and Star Oil had adjusted their pump prices.
Leading oil marketing companies, GOIl and Shell, and several others are still selling diesel and petrol at the prices set for the first pricing window which commenced from 1st to 15th August.
Prices of diesel and petrol are reviewed every two weeks in the West African nation.
Although crude oil prices have fallen below $100 per barrel, the Ghanaian currency, the cedis, keeps depreciating against the major international currencies notably the US Dollars, Euros and Pounds.
Some forex trading companies are quoting Ghc9.99 as the exchange rate for a dollar.
Apart from the weak Ghanaian currency, there appear to be shortages of forex in the country, making it difficult for banks to supply oil to importers.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah, has explained that there are inherent challenges in Ghana’s oil and gas sector which require the immediate attention of all stakeholders.
He said, “the challenges to the oil and gas industry should not be dismissed as future threats because they are real and present”.
The CEO made the observation at the launch of Ghana’s Upstream Petroleum Chamber report, which was held in Accra.
The chamber, which has dual priorities, focuses on providing its members with a committed platform for promoting, protecting and enhancing their common interest whilst seeking to ensure high standards, best practices and supportive legislation within the upstream industry.Notable attendees at the event were senior officials from Tullow PLC, Kosmos, ENI, and Petroleum Commission.
Mr. Danquah touched on three key areas, which to him constitute the current challenges facing the oil and gas industry in Ghana.
The three areas are incentivizing exploration; expediting the appraisal to the development process and optimising domestic gas utilization in the context of the energy transition.
Expressing his views on “incentivizing exploration in Ghana”, Mr. Danquah said, “Ghana’s industry is facing the realities of reserves depletion and production decline”.
He continued that the nation remains reliant on its three producing fields, the Greater Jubilee, TEN and the Sankofa Gye Nyame, with another asset at the pre-development stage, and expected to begin production within the medium term”.
He, therefore, indicated that Ghana faces a strong imperative to both increase petroleum production and replace and grow reserves to avoid prolonged production decline.
The CEO also stressed the need to continue engaging key stakeholders at a wider level to re-invigorate exploration by way of encouraging deep-water exploration and drilling of unexplored areas through fiscal incentives.
This is especially true in the wake of a slowdown in exploratory drilling since 2012 – only six (6) exploratory wells were drilled between 2013 and 2021, compared to thirty-seven (37) between 2007 and 2012 around the height of Jubilee field discovery and development,” he alluded.
Again, he underscored the need to come up with initiatives to attract the right international oil companies through enticing licensing rounds and direct negotiations under provisions in section 10 of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 2016 (Act 919).
In addition, he posited the need to actively engage upstream players and encourage them at every stage of the development and production process, and finally to contribute positively to a responsive regulatory and institutional framework.
Speaking on the subject of “expediting the appraisal to development process”, Mr. Danquah noted that several of the post-Jubilee discoveries can be classified as marginal fields.
He explained that Ghana’s latest commercial discovery to be brought into production was the Sankofa Gye-Nyame fields in 2017.
“This demonstrates a need to speed up and encourage the progression of appraisal stage projects through development and into production” he alluded.
The two key incentives being endorsed in the Ghana context are the tie-in development concept and fiscal incentives for marginal field development.
He eluded that as a best practice, Ghana encourages the tie-in of marginal fields to existing infrastructure to drive down the overall cost of development and production.
As a precedent, he reiterated the development concept behind the Deep Water Tano – Cape Three Points Pecan development which incorporated the tying of idle assets like Beech, Almond, and others into the main Pecan development area.
Another instance was when the Government of Ghana designed two (2) fiscal packages for the West Cape Three Points Block 2 to encourage the development of the existing marginal discoveries and at the same time promote further exploration in the block.
Touching on natural gas as the energy transition fuel in Ghana’s energy mix, Mr. Danquah commented that Ghana’s growing demand for energy will see continued dependence on natural gas.
He claimed that figures from Ghana’s fourth national communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) suggest that US$14.2 billion was deployed between 2011 and 2019 to develop gas infrastructure in Ghana.
Mr. Danquah explained that “GNPC, in essence, does not see the Energy Transition to cleaner forms of energy as binary – all or nothing; however, we consider it as a gradual process and which cannot progress seamlessly without considering the country’s own present resources as well as its energy security blueprint in the context of eradicating energy poverty”.
“To this end, the Corporation is enabling investment in critical gas infrastructure such as the Tema City Gate project to facilitate gas utilisation in an expanding gas demand market (including non-power off-takers) and ensuring a robust gas value chain across other local gas enclaves.”, he concluded.
Lastly, Mr. Danquah clamoured for collaboration, cooperation and informed transparent decision-making among private, public and government institutions involved in Ghana’s upstream oil and gas sector.
He mentioned that it is only when these variables are in place that the upstream sector can be successful and make meaningful impacts to the economy.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Nigerian workers in the electricity sector have suspended their strike action with immediate effect.
The electricity workers embarked on a strike in protest of unfair labour practices resulting to a blackout in the West African nation.
The workers pledged to ensure restoration of supply without further delay after a conciliation meeting between them and Federal Government.
The Union, according to a statement by the Minister of Labour and Employment, after a quick intervention to stop the industrial action, promised to restore power while it awaits the government to meet its demands.
After the meeting held behind closed doors, the Minister of Labour through a statement made available to journalists by the Ministry’s Head, Press and Public Relations, Olajide Oshundun, said; “The Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has apprehended the strike embarked upon by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) following an emergency meeting between the union, government and other stakeholders, at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.
“Dr. Ngige set up a tripartite committee to look into the grievances of electricity workers towards addressing them.
“At the end of the meeting, the Secretary General of NUEE, Joe Ajaero, assured the Minister that all necessary steps would be taken to restore the supply of electricity to the country immediately.”
Corroborating with the Labour Minister’s statement, President General of the of Association of Senior Staff of Electricity and Allied Workers, Comrade Chika Ben, said; “I thank you Honorable Minister of Labour and Minister of State for Power for their maturity in handling the issues we brought up.
“The issues could have been tackled earlier on if there were right communication with all parties. We have been given two weeks and we will report back to the full house.
“We assure the nation that crisis as this will be nipped in the bud before it escalates. Yes, Nigerians are going to have light today.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Germany will lower the sales tax on gas to 7% in an effort to cushion the blow of additional charges being placed on consumers to ensure energy companies can afford increasingly expensive supplies, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday.
The reduced tax rate will apply as long as the levy is charged, meaning through March 2024, added Scholz.
Germany had been in talks with the European Commission this week to find another way to reduce the cost burden on consumers after the commission had said Germany’s bid for an exemption on value-added tax was not possible.
The measure comes after levies were announced this week that will tack on hundreds of euros to an average family’s energy bill.
The levies will be imposed from Oct. 1 in a bid to help Uniper – the country’s largest importer of Russian gas and other importers cope with soaring prices.
For an average family of four, the charge will amount to an additional annual cost of around 480 euros, or an increase of about 13% on the Verivox price comparison platform’s calculation of an average gas bill of 3,568 euros based on usage of 20,000 kWh/year.
“The alternative would have been the collapse of the German energy market, and with it large parts of the European energy market,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on the levy.
Germany’s Russia-dependent energy model had failed and would not be returning, he told reporters. “We need to change in a hurry … In doing so, we sometimes have to take bitter medicine,” Habeck said, arguing for targeted relief to help households.
Utility EnBW (EBKG.DE), which is also exposed via its VNG (VNG.UL) gas division and took a 545 million euro profit hit in the first half of 2022 as a result of lower Russian supplies, said it would take advantage of the levy, unlike RWE (RWEG.DE).
Industry will also be subject to the charge, with the German Steel Federation saying it would add around another 500 million euros a year to the sector’s energy bills, on top of 7 billion euros in extra costs already attributed to high energy prices.
“The gas surcharge significantly increases the cost pressure already exerted on the steel industry by the extreme price increases on the energy markets,” its President Hans Juergen Kerkhoff said.
Economists warned that the levy would further accelerate inflation in Europe’s largest economy, which is already running at an elevated 8.5%, with some relief measures such as low-cost public transport tickets set to expire.
“The gas levy is expected to increase inflation, including the value-added tax, by almost one percentage point,” said Commerzbank chief economist Joerg Kraemer, adding that the measure adds to mounting signs the German economy could slip into recession this winter.
The Federation of German Industries called for business support measures after Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday promised an additional relief package for households.
Germany is also awaiting a response from Brussels on a VAT exemption for the levy.
Russia has throttled gas flows to Germany, blaming technical problems and the red tape of Western sanctions for a drop in deliveries via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20% of its capacity. Berlin has called the reductions politically motivated.
($1 = 0.9800 euros)
Source: ReutersSource: Reuters
Ghana’s technical electricity regulator, Energy Commission, has held a day’s workshop to sensitize selected manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers in the West African nation’s energy supply industry on the Local Content and Local Participation (Electricity Supply Industry) Regulations,2017, (L.I. 2354).
The purpose of the LI 2354, which came into force in December 2017, includes amongst others, the maximization of financial capital, expertise, goods, and services locally to develop and promote local capacity in the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) and the manufacture of electrical equipment, electrical appliances, and renewable energy equipment.
The Regulation grants a transition period of five years for entities who were already engaged in the ESI before the coming into force of the Regulations, to meet the minimum provisions of the L.I.
The transition period, which ends in December 2022, was to enable such entities to take progressive steps to comply with the minimum provisions of the Regulations.
It is for this reason that the Energy Commission invited its stakeholders to the workshop to further sensitize them on the provisions of the Regulations and implementation strategies and urge them to take the necessary steps to comply with all provisions of the Regulations.
It brought together all players within the Electricity Supply Industry which include power producers, transmission and distribution utilities, Renewable energy service providers, and manufacturers of electrical equipment, electrical appliances, and renewable energy equipment from both public and private sector
The Local Content and Local Participation Specialist at the Energy Commission, Ing. Maame Yaa Akowuah Tamakloe took the participants through the specific provisions of the L.I. 2354 and highlighted some implementation strategies deployed by the Commission to ensure its successful execution. She highlighted that the Regulation was passed in line with the desire of the government to develop indigenous capacity and local participation in the Electricity sector through the creation of linkages, building local industries, ensuring the employment of Ghanaians, and promoting value addition.
This implies that businesses in the Electricity Supply Industry are required to make provision for Ghanaian citizens or indigenous Ghanaian Companies to have some level of equity ownership in the entity.
Ing. Maame Yaa Akowuah Tamakloe, Local Content and Local Participation Specialist at the Energy Commission making a presentation on the LI2354
Further, entities in the Electricity Supply Industry are to give first consideration to indigenous Ghanaian service providers for their required services such as their legal, insurance, financial, allied, and engineering services.
In addition, players in the industry are required to give first consideration to locally manufactured goods (i.e. electrical equipment, appliance, and renewable energy equipment) for their activities.
The EC team led by the Executive Secretary and together with their Consultant, Dr Juliette Twumasi Anokye provided clarity on some queries raised by participants during the stakeholder meeting.
This includes the unavailability of quality supplies and expertise on the Ghanaian market.
Ing. Tamakloe highlighted some strategies by the Commission to collaborate with relevant institutions to build capacity in-country which includes the commencement of the Indigenous Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (ISME) Capacity Programme, Women Engineers in Energy Trainee (WEET) Programme, and the Renewable Energy Equipment Assembling Bootcamp aimed at offering practical training and other support to Ghanaians and indigenous enterprises in the ESI.
The Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Ing Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, commended the participants for attending the workshop and urged them to cooperate fully with the Government, the Commission, and the Local Content Committee to ensure that the purpose for which the Regulations were developed are achieved.Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s Ministry of National Security has urged residents of Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo municipalities in the Eastern Region to cooperate with security agencies and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as they work to restore electricity supply to the affected areas.
Since Tuesday, 16th August 2022, some staff of ECG and personnel from the 49 Field Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces have been assessing the integrity of ECG’s infrastructure in the area, following the vandalism of some of the installations by aggrieved residents.
According to the Tema Region ECG Tema, 81 substations out of 147 in both Manya and Yilo Krobo Municipalities have, so far, been assessed.
There have been tensions between the residents and the ECG in recent times over the installation of prepaid metres.
A statement issued by the Ministry of National Security on Wednesday, 17th August 2022, indicated that the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs and other stakeholders at a meeting reached a consensus to foster peace and security and promote socio-economic activities in both municipalities.
The stakeholders agreed on several steps to be taken and among them included conducting integrity tests on all power transmission lines and electricity infrastructure in the area, resumption of the installation of prepaid meters following the restoration of electricity supply to the areas, and the deployment of security personnel to the said areas to ensure law and order during the installation of prepaid meters, and arrest of persons whose conduct threatens to disrupt the exercise.
“It is anticipated that the consensus reached between the said stakeholders would engender peace and security, promote socio-economic activities, and restore normalcy to the Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo Municipalities,” the statement said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
A fuel retail outlet belonging to Ghana’s leading indigenous Oil Marketing Company, GOIL, in Wassa Akropong in the Western Region was on Monday, 15th August 2022 attacked by suspected armed men.
The robbers shot and killed the security man on duty, Prosper Dotse, popularly known as Old Soldier after they had succeeded in disarming him.
The robbery incident also reportedly left more than two people seriously injured.
According to a media report, the suspected robbers invaded the station at about 1 am Monday, took some staff who were resting after work and subjected them to beatings.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Amenfi East, Frederick Korankye, who has been speaking to journalists in the area on the robbery incident, indicated that the armed robbers who carried out the raid appeared not to be experienced.
“From the CCTV footage I have seen, these are local armed robbers. When they arrived at the station, they attacked the security officer who was armed. They took his gun but they could not use it. They had no idea how to even unlock the gun. They had to beat the security officer until he became unconscious. We have secured the CCTV footage and we are working around it to arrest them as soon as possible,” he said.
According to the MCE, the armed robbers, armed with pinch bars and hammers, subjected the workers on duty to severe beatings.
“They moved to the supermarket and attacked the attendant but another security officer who was also armed started firing warning shots at them. They got scared and bolted from the station. We have since invited the family of the deceased whilst the rest are receiving treatment at the hospital,” he added.
According to him, about 300 counter-terrorism police personnel have been deployed to the area to fight crime.
“The cities are no more attractive to the armed robbers so most of them are migrating to our communities, but we are working to ensure the crime rate is reduced, so about 300 counter-terrorism police personnel are being deployed to the area to beef up security.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Workers of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have completely shut down all power transmission substations across the West African country in protest of unresolved grievances.
The situation has resulted in power supply disruptions in all the eleven electricity Distribution companies (DisCos) franchise areas.
With a total population of over 210 million, Nigeria only supplies power to a few of its people.
Currently, the country’s peak power generation stands at about 4,830.69 MegaWatts(MW)
The Nigeria Electricity Employees Union (NUEE), in a statement issued by Joe Ajaero, General Secretary, directed their members to embark on strike on Wednesday over the directive issued by the TCN Board that all Principal Managers (PMs) in acting capacity going to Assistant General Managers (AGM) must appear for a promotion interview.
The Union said: “The directive is in contravention of our Conditions of Service and Career Progression Paths and unilaterally done without the relevant Stakeholders.”
As of about 3 pm Wednesday, this portal learnt that there was also a system collapse, compounding the problems in the country’s power sector.
Several DisCos have issued a press statement informing their customers about the disruption in power supply due to the strike action by members of NUEE.
Ikeja Electric, in a statement, addressed to its customers on Wednesday said, “Due to the ongoing nationwide picketing of TCN substations by aggrieved workers, we are currently experiencing disruption of power supply as most stations within our network have been shut down.”
IE, however, appealed to the customers to bear with it, promising an amicable resolution by the relevant stakeholders.
Another Disco, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, in a statement, also informed its customers that the industrial action embarked upon by NUEE has affected some of its feeders/locations that have been shut down by the Union.
Kaduna Electric, in a statement, also confirmed the interruption of supply witnessed in its franchise state.
Abdul Azeez Abdullahi, the spokesperson for Kaduna Electric, said, “The interruption due in Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara was due to the ongoing disputes between the NUEE, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) the TCN.”
The DisCo, however, promised to restore power as soon as the contending issues are resolved.
PHED said, “We regret any inconveniences caused by this situation and assure you that once that situation changes power supply will be restored.”
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has also, in a statement, confirmed disruption on its network.
The DisCo, in a statement, also said, “We wish to inform our distinguished customers that the interruption being witnessed in our franchise area is due to the ongoing industrial issues between NUEE and TCN.
“We assure all stakeholders that we are working hard to ensure that a mutual and amicable settlement is attained, and power is restored forthwith.”
Meanwhile, Joe Ajaero, on Wednesday, noted that the Union is open to decisive discussions with relevant actors to find long-term solutions and avoid the sector’s total collapse.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The West African Power Pool (WAPP) has announced plans to set up a Liquidity Enhancement Revolving Fund (LERF) for the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market.
The Chairman of the executive board of WAPP, Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, disclosed this at the 54th meeting of the executive board in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
“The creation of this fund will provide the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market with a very important tool for electricity trading by reducing the level of outstanding bills, thereby providing stakeholders in the trade with a high degree of robustness and sustainability”, Abdulaziz stated.
Speaking on the group’s financial statement, Abdulaziz, who is also the Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stated: “when I look at the financial statement, I get the feeling that the WAPP is working hard and is quite transparent as shown by the independent audit, this attests that the financial statements are regular, sincere, and in accordance with international standards.”
On his part, the Secretary General of WAPP executive board, Siengui Ki Apollinaire, said: “The 2021 budget was executed transparently and rigorously, and it is with pleasure that I announce that the 2021 consolidated financial statements of our organization have been declared regular, sincere, and compliant with international standards by a well-known independent auditor.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Power has made a passionate appeal to the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) to suspend its planned strike action scheduled Wednesday, 17th August 2022 and allow them two weeks to address their grievances.
A letter signed by Goddy Jedy-Agba, Minister of State for Power and addressed to the General Secretary of NUEE said, “The Ministry of Power takes cognisance of your complaints therein and is committed to offering solutions that will be acceptable to all parties concerned.
“May we appeal to your great Union to allow us two weeks from the date of this letter to address the issues and come up with proposals towards acceptable resolution of all issues.”
Ahead of the planned protest, Members of NUEE, on Tuesday morning, picketed at the headquarters of Transmission Company of Nigeria in Abuja.
A statement issued by the General Secretary of NUEE, Joe Ajaero said, “You are hereby enjoined to mobilise immediately for serious picketing of TCN Headquarters and Stations nationwide over the directive by the TCN Board that all PMs in acting capacity going to AGM must appear for a promotion interview,” the letter said.
“This directive is in contravention of our Conditions of Service and Career Progression Paths and was unilaterally done without the relevant Stakeholders.”
The group also complained about the failure of the authorities to pay the entitlement of former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in December 2019.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Burundi has began the implementation of its section of the proposed Rwanda-Burundi electricity interconnection project.
This was disclosed by Selemani Khamis, the Permanent Secretary of the Burundian Ministry of Hydraulics, Energy, and Mines.
The Rwanda-Burundi electricity interconnection project comprises the construction of a 220-kV transmission line.
The line will cut across Kigoma and Butare in Rwanda and Ngozi and Gitega in Burundi.
As part of the project, corresponding sub-stations will also be constructed and extended.
In Burundi, the project will entail the construction of a 79.2 km 220 kV, single-circuit transmission line at the Rwanda/Burundi border at Ngozi and then from Ngozi to Gitega.
In addition, a 220/30 kV sub-station will be built at Ngozi with a connection to the existing 30kV distribution network.
Moreover, the 110 kV substation at Gitega will be transformed into a 110/30 kV one by installing a set of 110 kV bars and two additional 110 kV busbar connections at Ngozi.
Lastly, the Rwanda-Burundi electricity interconnection project in Burundi will involve the connection of the line to the Bujumbura central control centre.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Crude throughput at Chinese refineries slumped in July to the lowest level since the height of the pandemic in March 2020, amid unplanned facility outages and lower processing rates at independent refiners due to declining refining margins.
Chinese refiners processed 53.21 million tons of crude oil last month, equal to 12.53 million barrels per day (bpd), per Reuters calculations based on official data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The refinery throughput was down by 8.8 percent compared to July 2021 and down from the June 2022 processing rate of 13.37 million bpd.
In June, Chinese refiners’ processing rates were higher than in May, but some 10 percent lower than the all-time high reached last year in June, data showed last month. Chinese refineries’ throughput fell for the first time in more than a decade during the first half of the year, by 6 percent to 13.4 million bpd.
Now when July is included in the year-to-date refinery throughput, it turns out Chinese crude processing dropped by 6.3 percent to 13.09 million bpd compared to the period January-July 2021.
Crude processing was down in July due to unplanned shutdowns at refineries owned by state giants Sinopec and PetroChina, industry sources told Reuters.
Moreover, China’s independent refiners also cut production because refining margins are coming off recent highs. Subdued refining at the world’s top crude oil importer, China, could continue to weigh on oil prices along with renewed fears of economic slowdown, including lower economic growth in China than previously expected.
In addition, Chinese authorities plan to launch a new round of tax probes on private refiners, the so-called teapots, sources in the refining industry told Reuters last week, in what could slow down further the crude processing rates at the world’s top crude oil importer.
The independent refiners in China, mostly located in the eastern province of Shandong, account for around a fifth of all Chinese crude imports.
Source: Oilprice.com
Ghana’s Minority Parliamentarians have rejected the electricity and water tariffs announced by the country’s utility regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
The Commission, on Monday, announced a 27.15 per cent increment in end-user tariff for electricity and a 21.55 per cent increment for water tariff effective 1st September, 2022.
However, a statement issued by the Ranking Member of Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament and the Minority’s Spokesperson on Energy debunked the 27.15 per cent being announced as the tariff for electricity.
“A critical look at the tariff structure as announced reveals that all residential consumers who fall between 0-300 kWh bracket have witnessed a price increase from GHp/kWh 65.4161 to GHp/kWh89.0422, representing an increment of almost 34 per cent.
“It should be noted that the bulk of residential consumers fall within the 0-300 kWh bracket and will, therefore, be adversely affected by the 34 per cent adjustment,” the statement said.
The Minority noted that the country is already reeling under galloping inflation estimated at 32 per cent, saying “this utility tariff increment will only exacerbate the current high cost of living and will thus worsen the plight of the already impoverished Ghanaian.”
Before this electricity tariff increment, the Minority observed that petroleum products at the pumps have witnessed a colossal increment of about 100 per cent.
“So far, the Energy Debt Recovery Levy has seen an increase of 20 per cent; the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy is up by 40 per cent. The Unified Petroleum Pricing Formula has been increased by 164 per cent, whilst the BOST margin has been increased from 3 pesewas to 9 pesewas, representing a 200 per cent increase.
“As if this is not enough, the fuel marking margin levy has also been increased by another 233 per cent,” the Minority fumed.
According to the Minority, they are of the strongest conviction that the government can and must do something to cushion Ghanaians who are going through unimaginable hardships with ever-worsening poverty levels under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led government.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Notable attendees at the event were senior officials from Tullow PLC, Kosmos, ENI, and Petroleum Commission.
Mr. Danquah touched on three key areas, which to him constitute the current challenges facing the oil and gas industry in Ghana.
The three areas are incentivizing exploration; expediting the appraisal to the development process and optimising domestic gas utilization in the context of the energy transition.
Expressing his views on “incentivizing exploration in Ghana”, Mr. Danquah said, “Ghana’s industry is facing the realities of reserves depletion and production decline”.
He continued that the nation remains reliant on its three producing fields, the Greater Jubilee, TEN and the Sankofa Gye Nyame, with another asset at the pre-development stage, and expected to begin production within the medium term”.
He, therefore, indicated that Ghana faces a strong imperative to both increase petroleum production and replace and grow reserves to avoid prolonged production decline.
The CEO also stressed the need to continue engaging key stakeholders at a wider level to re-invigorate exploration by way of encouraging deep-water exploration and drilling of unexplored areas through fiscal incentives.
This is especially true in the wake of a slowdown in exploratory drilling since 2012 – only six (6) exploratory wells were drilled between 2013 and 2021, compared to thirty-seven (37) between 2007 and 2012 around the height of Jubilee field discovery and development,” he alluded.
Again, he underscored the need to come up with initiatives to attract the right international oil companies through enticing licensing rounds and direct negotiations under provisions in section 10 of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act 2016 (Act 919).
In addition, he posited the need to actively engage upstream players and encourage them at every stage of the development and production process, and finally to contribute positively to a responsive regulatory and institutional framework.
Speaking on the subject of “expediting the appraisal to development process”, Mr. Danquah noted that several of the post-Jubilee discoveries can be classified as marginal fields.
He explained that Ghana’s latest commercial discovery to be brought into production was the Sankofa Gye-Nyame fields in 2017.
“This demonstrates a need to speed up and encourage the progression of appraisal stage projects through development and into production” he alluded.
The two key incentives being endorsed in the Ghana context are the tie-in development concept and fiscal incentives for marginal field development.
He eluded that as a best practice, Ghana encourages the tie-in of marginal fields to existing infrastructure to drive down the overall cost of development and production.
As a precedent, he reiterated the development concept behind the Deep Water Tano – Cape Three Points Pecan development which incorporated the tying of idle assets like Beech, Almond, and others into the main Pecan development area.
Another instance was when the Government of Ghana designed two (2) fiscal packages for the West Cape Three Points Block 2 to encourage the development of the existing marginal discoveries and at the same time promote further exploration in the block.
Touching on natural gas as the energy transition fuel in Ghana’s energy mix, Mr. Danquah commented that Ghana’s growing demand for energy will see continued dependence on natural gas.
He claimed that figures from Ghana’s fourth national communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) suggest that US$14.2 billion was deployed between 2011 and 2019 to develop gas infrastructure in Ghana.
Mr. Danquah explained that “GNPC, in essence, does not see the Energy Transition to cleaner forms of energy as binary – all or nothing; however, we consider it as a gradual process and which cannot progress seamlessly without considering the country’s own present resources as well as its energy security blueprint in the context of eradicating energy poverty”.
“To this end, the Corporation is enabling investment in critical gas infrastructure such as the Tema City Gate project to facilitate gas utilisation in an expanding gas demand market (including non-power off-takers) and ensuring a robust gas value chain across other local gas enclaves.”, he concluded.
Lastly, Mr. Danquah clamoured for collaboration, cooperation and informed transparent decision-making among private, public and government institutions involved in Ghana’s upstream oil and gas sector.
He mentioned that it is only when these variables are in place that the upstream sector can be successful and make meaningful impacts to the economy.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
The Regulation grants a transition period of five years for entities who were already engaged in the ESI before the coming into force of the Regulations, to meet the minimum provisions of the L.I.
The transition period, which ends in December 2022, was to enable such entities to take progressive steps to comply with the minimum provisions of the Regulations.
It is for this reason that the Energy Commission invited its stakeholders to the workshop to further sensitize them on the provisions of the Regulations and implementation strategies and urge them to take the necessary steps to comply with all provisions of the Regulations.
It brought together all players within the Electricity Supply Industry which include power producers, transmission and distribution utilities, Renewable energy service providers, and manufacturers of electrical equipment, electrical appliances, and renewable energy equipment from both public and private sector
The Local Content and Local Participation Specialist at the Energy Commission, Ing. Maame Yaa Akowuah Tamakloe took the participants through the specific provisions of the L.I. 2354 and highlighted some implementation strategies deployed by the Commission to ensure its successful execution. She highlighted that the Regulation was passed in line with the desire of the government to develop indigenous capacity and local participation in the Electricity sector through the creation of linkages, building local industries, ensuring the employment of Ghanaians, and promoting value addition.
This implies that businesses in the Electricity Supply Industry are required to make provision for Ghanaian citizens or indigenous Ghanaian Companies to have some level of equity ownership in the entity.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com