Kenya: Fuel Prices Remain Unchanged Despite Drop In Landed Cost

Michael Creg Afful
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Kenya: Fuel Prices Remain Unchanged Despite Drop In Landed Cost
Consumers of fuel in Kenya will not enjoy any reduction in fuel prices at the pumps despite a drop in the landed cost of the commodity. This is because the East African nation’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has retained pump prices for petroleum products despite a drop in the landed cost. The landed cost of imported Super petrol decreased by 4.1 per cent from US$627.80 (Sh71,206) per cubic metre in November to US$601.97 (Sh68, 276) in December. Diesel decreased by 5.71 per cent from $600.22 (Sh68,078) to US$565.92 per cubic metre, while kerosene decreased by 4.89 per cent to US$574.85 (Sh65,194) per cubic metre. A litre of petrol currently retails at Sh129.72 (US$1.14) in Nairobi, while diesel is sold for Sh110.60 (US$0.97) per litre. Kerosene is being retailed at Sh103.54 per litre. EPRA Director-General, Daniel Kiptoo said the government would utilise the Petroleum Development Levy to cushion consumers “from the otherwise high prices. “The prices are inclusive of eight per cent VAT in line with provisions with the Finance Act and the revised rates of excise duty adjusted for inflation,” Kiptoo said. This comes amid concerns by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) over the government defaulting on compensation under its fuel subsidy initiative introduced mid-last year. In November, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority cut margins for the oil marketers to keep pump prices unchanged after a public outcry on rising pump prices. Billions of shillings, however, remain unpaid, leaving OMCs’ cash flow dented. They now want the government to pay interest on the delayed funds, a cost that will be passed to taxpayers.     Source: https://energynewsafrica.com

Judgement Debt: Khawar Qureshi QC Calls For Capacity Building For African Lawyers

Michael Creg Afful
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Judgement Debt: Khawar Qureshi QC Calls For Capacity Building For African Lawyers
Africa is seen as one of the best investment destinations as the continent continues to attract investors from other parts of the world. One of the sectors that have attracted massive investment is the power and oil sector due to the important role they play in the running of the economy. With the influx of investors into the continent, one thing that African governments should be mindful of is the possibility of litigation between government and investors. Sadly, African nations have not paid attention to building the capacity of lawyers working in various government institutions to be able to help in drafting contractual agreements and also to defend or advise the country in an event of a dispute. According to a report by Bettina Muller and Cecilia Olivet at Trans National Institute(tni.org), an international research and advocacy institute, by the end of August 2019, African states were hit by a total of 106 known investment treaty arbitration claims. The figure represents 11 per cent of all known investor-state disputes worldwide. The report noted that African states were the main losers in the investment arbitration cases. The African continent, which had been struggling to develop, lost a total of US$ 55.5 billion as claimed by investors since 1993. The claimant includes power and oil and gas investors. The report cited European investors as those who initiated the majority of the lawsuit against African countries, accounting for 70 per cent of all cases Speaking to an international commercial lawyer and Queens Counsel, Khawar Qureshi, who has been in practice for 30 years and has acted for and against around 80 States, including many African States such as Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Botswana, Kenya throughout his career, he proposed solutions to enable African governments to prevent or deal more effectively with disputes between them and investors. He suggested that the first thing African states should do when signing contract with foreign investors is to ensure due diligence. ” I make no criticism of any Government in particular. Nevertheless when any party enters into a contract,  it must ensure due diligence is undertaken. Is  the contract commercially necessary and viable? Has it been drafted to provide reasonable protections or is it one sided? The contract has to be reviewed and drafted with expertise and when a dispute arises you must make sure it is handled by knowledgeable professionals. “If a dispute is about to occur, make sure you have the best legal advice available,” he added. Khawar Qureshi QC further suggested capacity building for African lawyers for them to be aware of and able to deal with emerging issues. He noted that capacity building for lawyers who handle government contracts and disputes can be more effective, saying: “In my international practice as a Queens Counsel, I ensure that when I work for a government, I help in capacity building by training government lawyers.” Khawar Qureshi QC was instructed to advise the Government of Ghana after the GPGC arbitral award was handed down. Click on the link below to watch the interview:

Nigeria: Power Producers Lose US$3.93 Billion In Seven Years Over Unutilised Electricity

Michael Creg Afful
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Power producers in the Republic of Nigeria lost at least N1.632 trillion (US$3,939,269,539.20) between 2015 and 2021 over the lack of full evacuation of generated electricity on the national grid causing stranded power of 27,204 Megawatts (MW).

According to the Daily Trust report, data from the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) showed that about 25 active GenCos had over 15,000 megawatts (MW) of stranded generation capacity at the end of 2021.

Given the breakdown of the figure, Daily Trust noted that the GenCos had 63,339.02MW of available power generation within the seven years, however, just 32,778.98MW of power was generated and evacuated through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) network to the Distribution Companies (DisCos) network for supply to consumers.

This means there was a balance of 27,204.5MW, representing about 30 per cent of available capacity which was stranded during the seven years.

This stranded power translated to N1.632 trillion market losses during the period, the data showed.

The analysis of the data on yearly revenue losses showed that from 2015 to 2021, the highest loss of N273.32 billion was recorded in 2016 when the GenCos could not deliver 3,828MW to the grid even when it had 7,040MW capacity.

The second highest stranded power was recorded in 2020 when the GenCos recorded a N266.1 billion loss over 3,742MW stranded power from an overall 7,793MW generation capacity.

In 2018, N264 billion was lost due to 3,699MW stranded power; the power generation companies then lost N256.9 billion in 2019 when they could not get 3,599MW of electricity to the consumers due to transmission and distribution network challenges.

Another N236.4 billion was lost in 2017 as the GenCos recorded 3,312MW stranded power while 3,010MW stranded electricity caused a loss of N214.9 billion in 2015.

The least of the stranded power and its losses were recorded just in 2021 when 2,248.5MW could not be delivered to the grid due to the grid hiccups causing a loss of N120.2 billion, which is about half of the revenue lost in each of the previous six years.

Commenting on the weak transmission and distribution network, a power sector expert, Dr Joy Ogaji, in an outlook report for this year, held that: “Reliability has been discovered to be a function of infrastructure and proper metering guarantees accurate billing. While some stakeholders have opined that the illiquid state of the NESI is the core challenge, we believe the liquidity crisis is not the problem, but a key symptom of the problem and can be solved.

“Hence, we expect an increased focus on the provision of required infrastructure as well as ensuring infrastructural handshake between the TransCo (TCN) and the DisCos,” she noted.

 

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com

Ghana: Fuel Price Hits Ghc7 Per Litre (Updated)

Michael Creg Afful
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Ghana: Fuel Price Hits Ghc7 Per Litre (Updated)
Majority of Oil Marketing Companies in the Republic of Ghana have adjusted their fuel prices at the pump. GOIL Company Ltd, indigenous leading oil marketing company adjusted fuel price by 20 pesewas. Super X (Petrol ) is now sold at Ghc 6.85 per litre  from Ghc6.65 per litre while Diesel X is sold at Ghc 6.85 up from Ghc6.65 per litre. TotalEnergies is selling Diesel (gasoil) at Ghc7.05 per litre from Ghc6.85 per litre while petrol (gasoline) is sold at Ghc6.99 per litre from Ghc 6.80. Shell is selling petrol at Ghc6.97 per litre while diesel is being sold at Ghc 6.95 per litre. Several other OMCs including Puma Energy have adjusted fuel prices upward. Crude oil prices on the international market have been soaring since the beginning of January 2022 after falling below US$80 per barrel in December 2021. As of Wednesday, Brent crude was trading at $88.01 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at US$86.11 per barrel. In a statement issued last Thursday, the energy think tank, Institute for Energy Security, predicted that fuel prices on the local market were likely to hit Ghc7 per litre. The IES projection was based on the 7.42 per cent increase in the price of Brent crude, the 9.46 per cent increase in the price of gasoline, the 8.52 per cent increase in gasoline price and the 0.3 per cent depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar. “The coming pricing window which starts on Sunday may see the price of petrol and diesel go up on the local market. This is on the back of happenings on the international market. Over the past two weeks, Brent Crude Oil has moved from about US$77 to about US$83 per barrel, representing an increase of about eight per cent while the price of gasoline increased by 9.46 per cent to close the window at US$774.94 per metric tonne. The price of gasoline also increased within the period by 8.52 per cent to close trading at US$696.00 per metric tonne from its earlier price of US$641.38 per metric tonne. “Since we are price takers, these happenings on the international market will impact the local market. Though the cedi depreciated marginally against the US Dollar, it won’t make a big change. We are, therefore, likely to see diesel and petrol selling at around GH¢7 per litre for the first time,” Nana Amoasi VII, Executive Director of IES, said in an interview with the media.       Source: https://energynewsafrica.com

Emissions Set To Rise With Global Power Demand – IEA

Michael Creg Afful
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Global electricity demand over the next few years is set to slow after a record 2021 but will still result in higher carbon emissions without rapid gains in low-carbon supply and energy efficiency, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

Global electricity demand rose by 6% or 1,500 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2021, the largest percentage gain since the recovery from a global financial crisis in 2010 and the largest total rise on record, the agency said in its annual report on the electricity sector.

China accounted for about half of the increase in global electricity demand last year with a 10% rise.

However, global electricity demand is expected to slow in the next few years as energy efficiency measures take effect and economic recovery slows.

It is forecast to increase by 2.7% on average to 2024, though the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and high energy prices are still uncertain, the report said.

South East Asia is expected to see the strongest electricity demand, growing by an average 5% between 2022 and 2024, followed by the Asia Pacific region, which includes China, at around 4% over that period, slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

Demand in North America and Latin America, is seen rising by around 1% over 2022-2024, with the largest percentage gains in Mexico and Canada at 3-4% a year.

Europe is set to register 1.7% growth in 2022 and then stay flat in 2023 and 2024.

Expected power demand growth in terawatt hours by region EMISSIONS

Power sector carbon dioxide emissions climbed 7% to a record high in 2021 after falling the previous two years.

Although slower electricity demand growth and the rise of low-carbon generation should limit emissions growth to less than 1% per year between 2022 and 2024, emissions need to fall sharply to meet net zero targets by 2050, the report said.

To fulfill its role in de-carbonizing the energy system, the electricity sector needed big improvements in energy efficiency and low-carbon supply, IEA said.

Fossil fuel generation is set to stagnate over the next three years while renewables are expected to grow 8% per year through 2024, and account for over 90% of total demand growth over that period.

Commenting on the report, David Jones, the global lead for independent climate think tank Ember said: “Failure to build enough new clean electricity to keep up with demand will slow the phase-out of coal-fired and gas-fired electricity; a mistake we cannot afford to make for the climate.”

On the electricity supply side, most of the growth to 2024 is expected in China, accounting for around half of the net total increase, followed by India at 12%, Europe at 7% and the United States at 4%.

Last year, a surge in consumption, combined with a reduced natural gas and coal supply, resulted in volatile power prices and negative effects on power generators, retailers and end- users in China, Europe and India, the IEA said.

The IEA’s price index for major wholesale electricity markets in 2021 nearly doubled compared to 2020, up 64% from the average over 2016 to 2020. In Europe, fourth quarter 2021 prices were over four times the 2015-2020 average.

“Sharp spikes in electricity prices in recent times have been causing hardship for many households and businesses around the world and risk becoming a driver of social and political tensions,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

The IEA did not provide detail on where price volatility might be most concentrated over the next few years.

 

  Source: Reuters

 

Ghana: GNPC Battles ACEP…Denies Setting Up Jubilee Oil Holdings In Cayman Islands

Michael Creg Afful
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Ghana: GNPC Battles ACEP…Denies Setting Up Jubilee Oil Holdings In Cayman Islands
Ghana’s National Oil Company (GNPC) has denied claims by energy think tank, African Centre Energy Policy (ACEP) that it has set up an offshore company named Jubilee Oil Holdings in Cayman Islands in North America to take up the seven percent interest it recently acquired from Kosmos Energy in the Jubilee and TEN oil fields. In a statement responding to the claims by ACEP at a press conference last Thursday, GNPC said the Jubilee Oil Holdings was not set up by GNPC but rather Anadarko Offshore Holdings Company LLC.  “The Corporation has not set up any offshore company. The facts of the matter are as follows: Anadarko Offshore Holding Company LLC (“Anadarko Offshore”) sought to wind up its operations in Ghana. Its subsidiary, Anadarko WCTP Company (“Anadarko WCTP”) (an offshore company registered in Cayman Islands that holds Anadarko’s interest in Jubilee, Deepwater Tano (DWT) and West Cape Three Points (WCTP)) was to be sold to Kosmos Energy Holdings Ghana Limited (“Kosmos”). The Corporation expressed an interest in acquiring part of Anadarko WCTP’s interest in the DWT and WCTP petroleum agreements and notified Ministry of Energy. The parties entered negotiations to determine the Corporation’s share, and it concluded with an offer to the Corporation to purchase the seven per cent commercial interest.” The GNPC clarified that “to enable the negotiations with Kosmos for the sale of Anadarko WCTP to proceed, Anadarko Offshore incorporated a company, Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited (“JOHL”), in the Cayman Islands to hold the seven per cent commercial interest in the interim while the parties negotiated and finalised the commercial terms of the transaction.” The Corporation indicated that “the parties proceeded to negotiate the commercial terms of the sale and purchase of the seven per cent commercial interest. The headline purchase price as of 1st April 2021 was quoted as US$199 million. This price was adjusted to US$165 million effective 30th September 2021, following adjustments for cash calls, taxes and other expenses incurred as well as sales made by Anadarko WCTP within the period.” GNPC explained further that “Anadarko Offshore, the seller, was eventually paid US$164,798,691.00 on 19th October 2021 in full settlement of the acquisition. Anadarko Offshore thereafter assigned JOHL to GNPC, as JOHL holds the seven per cent commercial interest.” Explaining the circumstances leading to the CEO of GNPC, Dr KK Sarpong, and Board Chairman, Mr Freddie Blay becoming directors of Jubilee Oil Holdings, GNPC said at the time of the sale and purchase, the Corporation was required to nominate two directors to take over after the transfer was effected. The Board of Directors, therefore, nominated the Board Chairman, Mr Freddie Blay, and the Chief Executive Officer, Dr KK Sarpong, as initial directors to replace the directors of JOHL appointed by Anadarko. “The Corporation holds one hundred percent of the shares in JOHL,’’ GNPC stated. The Corporation is currently in the process of transferring JOHL to GNPC Explorco. It was never a ploy by the Corporation to ‘live unto itself, not the law and the nation’s strategy for its existence’ as claimed by ACEP,” the statement noted. Touching on the assertion that that Jubilee Oil Holding Limited cannot transact business in Ghana’s oil industry because it is not registered with The Registrar General’s Department, the GNPC said, “The Corporation is in the process of registering JOHL as an external company in Ghana. “The Corporation continues to operate within the remit of the legal framework and has no intention of flouting any legal requirements and procedures. As the Corporation has always indicated, the Corporation welcomes engagement with any stakeholder in its operations. All documents on the transactions are available for scrutiny and inspection,” the statement concluded. Click on the link below for the full statement issued by GNPC: Press Release-GNPC Responds to ACEP        

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com

Ghana: ACEP Blows GNPC CEO, Board Chair’s Cover For Using Tax Haven Company To Take Up 7% Acquisition In Jubilee & TEN Fields

Michael Creg Afful
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Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), an energy think tank in the Republic of Ghana, has uncovered a deliberate plan by the CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and Board Chairman, which they believe could result in Ghana being short-changed.

Late last year, the West African nation’s national oil company, GNPC, acquired a seven per cent stake in the Jubilee and TEN oil fields at the cost of US$199 million from Kosmos Energy following the latter’s US$750 million acquisition of Occidental Petroleum (OXY) interest.

In an official communication announcing the acquisition, the company told Ghanaians that the interest acquired would be transferred to GNPC’s subsidiary, the GNPC Exploration and Production Company (GNPC Explorco).

“With this acquisition, GNPC Explorco will become part of the contractor group for the two blocks, together with Tullow, Petro SA and Kosmos (who also bought an additional interest in the two blocks),” the company said in the statement.

However, addressing a press conference in Accra, capital of Ghana, Policy Lead for Petroleum and Conventional Energy, Kodzo Yaotse disclosed that GNPC has set up an offshore company in Cayman Islands, in North America, to receive the seven per cent commercial interest in the blocks.

He said ACEP’s search discovered that a company called Jubilee Oil Holdings registered in Caymans Island with Dr KK Sarpong, CEO of GNPC and Mr Freddie Blay, board chairman of GNPC as directors have been assigned the seven per cent stake acquired from Kosmos Energy in the OXY transaction.

Dr KK Sarpong (left) CEO of GNPC and Mr Freddie Blay (Right) Board Chairman of GNPC

Mr Yaotse indicated that Jubilee Oil Holdings was registered on 21st September 2021.

He described this move as questionable.

He said Ghana stands the chance of losing tax revenue if this is not reversed.

“It is intriguing why GNPC has instead decided to create a subsidiary in a tax haven even if it needed a new subsidiary. Companies hide in tax havens for two popular reasons: secrecy and tax avoidance. Which of the two motivates GNPC?” he quizzed.

Touching on financing of the seven per cent stake, Yaotse described it as worrying that GNPC has not been able to communicate to Ghanaians how it intends to finance the acquisition.

Relying on a report by Africa Intelligence in October 2021, Yaotse said the report noted that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), by extension the Finance Ministry, intends to lend the tax settlement amount from the Oxy transaction to GNPC to offset the acquisition cost of the seven per cent interest with no recourse to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), Act 815 as amended.

According to him, ACEP is in support of an acquisition of the seven per cent interest in the Jubilee and the TEN fields, however, “the right processes must be followed in respect of Ghanaian laws and proper corporate governance practices that project GNPC among its peers on accountability benchmarks.

“How the corporation has become broke from a strong cash position in the early years of oil production is a major subject for government attention…the corporation must find ways to fit into a philosophy that will advance the overall national interest rather than an attempt to evade the dictates of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) with convoluted schemes such as the new efforts to relocate asserts in Ghana to the Cayman Islands,” he added.

Recommendations

Proposing what the think tank believes is the solution to the controversy surrounding the transaction, Mr Yaotse urged the GNPC to seek parliamentary approval to ring-fence the seven per cent interest to guarantee a loan for a short period of 3-5 years to allow GNPC to use revenue from the acquired interest to amortise the loan.

He further recommended that the GNPC holds the interest locally, either directly or through Explore.

Energynewsafrica.com’s source within the corporation indicates that the company is preparing to respond to the claims by the think tank.

 

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com

Senate Votes Against Nord Stream Sanctions

Peter Adofo Asante
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The Senate voted 55 to 44 against a proposal for a new round of sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 natural gas project led by Russia’s Gazprom. According to opponents in the U.S. Congress, the project will deepen Europe’s dependence on Russian gas while giving Moscow the opportunity to use gas supplies as a weapon against Europe. “Russia has nakedly and unequivocally used energy as blackmail,” Senator Ted Cruz, author of the measure, said Thursday on the Senate floor, as quoted by Bloomberg. And Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, had done this “openly, brazenly and laughingly and absolutely nothing happened.” “The government of Germany should have shelved this project itself a long time ago,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “These sanctions, like the prior Nord Stream 2 sanctions that had overwhelming bipartisan support here in Congress, are not about driving a wedge in Europe. The pipeline itself is the wedge.”  However, opponents of further sanctions argued that it would affect U.S. relations with Germany, which is set to be the biggest beneficiary of the pipeline but only when it approves it, which is going to take at least another few months. There are also German companies involved in the project. The administration, for its part, has argued that sanctions now could limit Washington’s power of persuasion in the future if it decides to work with European allies to impose more severe sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine. Germany, meanwhile, has made it clear that the Nord Stream project is an entirely separate issue from events in and around Ukraine. “We should not drag (Nord Stream 2) into this conflict,” Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said this week, as quoted by Reuters. “We need to solve this conflict, and we need to solve it in talks – that’s the opportunity that we have at the moment, and we should use it rather than draw a link to projects that have no connection to this conflict.”
U.S. Sanctions On Nord Stream 2 Upset European Lawmakers
      Source: Oilprice.com

Ghana Starts Construction Of STEM Academy

Michael Creg Afful
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Ghana has begun the construction of a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Academy at East Legon, a suburb of Accra, Ghana’s capital. President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, performed a sod-cutting ceremony to begin the construction of the STEM Academy. According to him, this is part of efforts by the government to reorient the educational system to focus more on science and technology. The President decried the country’s pace in terms of science and technology. He, therefore, stated that the construction of STEM schools across the country would make Ghana more competitive on the global scene. “Ghana has been blessed with the best and brightest on the continent who can unleash our potential and make us an active participant in the fourth industrial revolution. The time has come for us to reorient our education system to equip students with the right technological skills needed to succeed in the 21st century,” he said. He revealed that the government has commenced the development of 20 STEM centres and 10 model STEM Senior High Schools across the country, which are at various stages of completion. Some of these schools would be operationalized this year. President Akufo-Addo also expressed concerns about the total number of engineering graduates who are churned out annually in the country. According to him, compared to a country like Vietnam, Ghana must progress from the total number of 6,000 annual engineering graduates to at least 30,000 engineers. The construction of STEM schools in Ghana has been necessitated by calls from stakeholders and industry experts on the need for the country’s curriculum to reflect the demands of the industry. President Akufo-Addo reiterated the government’s commitment to tweaking the educational system for the desired level of socio-economic transformation. He also used the occasion to commend the Education Minister for his efforts in the formulation of the STEM policy. “I am delighted that the school dedicated principally to the teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is being brought under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. I thank all stakeholders especially my erudite Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Bosomtwi, the Honourable Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, for the conception of this brilliant idea and for working out to bring it into fruition,” Akufo-Addo said.  

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com  

Nigeria: Gov’t Allocates US$195 Million To Improve Power Sector

Michael Creg Afful
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Nigeria: Gov’t Allocates US$195 Million To Improve Power Sector
Nigeria has budgeted about N806,103.6 billion ($195,000,174.20) for various power projects in the country in 2022. This is a deliberate move to try and fix the country’s ailing power sector. The billion Naira power sector budget/intervention is coming at a time when stakeholders have opposed the continuous support for privatised entities by the Federal Government, saying the move was counterproductive to the ideals of privatisation. Some of the projects as highlighted in the 2022 budget included: N1 billion ($2,4 million) for a rural electrification access programme in federal universities; N220.5 billion ($533,468,218.50) for multilateral and bilateral funded projects (Zungeru, NEP, Abuja power feeding scheme and transmission access, among others). Others are the N800m ($193,548,5.60) for the distribution expansion programme projects to utilise the stranded power from the grid, N114bn ($275,806,698) funding (inclusive of multilateral loans) to the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) for the completion of renewable energy interventions for rural electrification projects nationwide, N303m ($733,065.17) for construction of 215MW LPFO/Gas Power Station, Kaduna and N470bn ($113,709,779) for Kashambilla transmission.

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com            

Kenya: Power Supply Restored In Kenya After Nationwide Blackout

Michael Creg Afful
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0
Power supply has been restored in all parts of Kenya after the East Africa nation was hit with a nationwide outage on Tuesday morning. The nationwide outage followed the collapse of some towers of the high voltage transmission line connecting the capital to the Kiambere hydroelectric dam. The country’s power utility company, Kenya Power, said in a statement that as of 1435 GMT, power had been restored in all parts of the country except in three administrative regions known as counties and whose supply was expected back by 1500 GMT. “Work has also commenced on reconstructing the collapsed electricity towers,” Kenya Power said.

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com  

Kenya Suffers Nationwide Outage As Transmission Tower Collapses

Michael Creg Afful
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Kenya has been hit with a nationwide power outage after a high voltage transmission line connecting the capital collapsed. The country’s power utility company, Kenya Power, announced on Tuesday that the blackout occurred after towers supporting a high voltage power line connecting the capital to the Kiambere hydroelectric dam collapsed. “We have lost power supply due to collapsed towers on Kiambere – Embakasi high voltage transmission power line at 10:45 a.m.(0745 GMT) this morning,” Kenya Power said in a statement on its Twitter account. “Our engineers are working to restore electricity supply as the repairs are being undertaken.” The Corporate Communications Officer at Kenya Power, Immaculate Kubai, told Kenyans.co.ke,that the issue had affected major parts of the country but affirmed that it would be resolved soon. “Yes, a transmission power line has collapsed around Embakasi but it is being worked on. It’s a national blackout, so when the main line collapses most of the time it affects the supply, hence, they are trying to stabilise the grid before they embark on supplying to the country,” she noted. Kenya Power has been trending for the past 48 hours with the majority of Kenyans taking to their social media platforms to lament the power outage that had caused blackout in some parts of the country. The power outage comes days after the Ministry of Energy confirmed a 15 per cent reduction in electricity cost in order to cushion Kenyans from the high cost of living. This was also to fulfill a pledge by President Uhuru Kenyatta. The Ministry noted that the reduction of power cost took effect on January 1, 2022, and would run till December 2022. “The Ministry of Energy hereby confirms that the Kenya Gazette of January 7, has effected a 15 per cent reduction in power tariffs. The reduction will boost livelihoods and economic growth by reducing the cost of living,” read part of the Ministry’s statement.         Source: https://energynewsafrica.com

Morocco: Chariot Makes Significant Gas Discovery Off Morocco

Peter Adofo Asante
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Oil and gas company Chariot has made, what the company described as, a significant gas discovery at the Anchois-2 well located on the Lixus license off Morocco. Chariot has a 75 percent interest and operatorship of Lixus in partnership with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines which holds the remaining 25 percent. The company said that the Anchois-2 well was safely and efficiently drilled to a total measured depth of 8,240 feet by the Stena Don drilling rig in 1,250 feet of water. A comprehensive evaluation of the well was done through wireline logging, including petrophysical evaluation, subsurface formation testing including reservoir pressures and gas sampling, sidewall cores, and wellbore seismic profiles. Preliminary interpretation of the data confirms the presence of significant gas accumulations in the appraisal and exploration objectives of the Anchois-2 well with a calculated net gas pay totaling more than 330 feet, compared to 180 feet in the original Anchois-1 discovery. The appraisal target – Gas Sand B – has a calculated total net gas pay of more than 165 feet in two stacked reservoirs of similar thickness. The upper reservoir is a continuation of a reservoir drilled in the original discovery well, Anchois-1, with the lower reservoir being newly identified. As for exploration targets – Gas Sands C, M, and O – were successfully encountered with multiple gas-bearing intervals across a gross interval of 820 feet measured distance with no water-bearing reservoirs identified, materially exceeding pre-drill expectations. The previously discovered Gas Sand A was not targeted in the Anchois-2 well, due to the intention of evaluating it in the subsequent Anchois-1 re-entry operations. However, Anchois-2 encountered gas-bearing sands at this level providing important additional subsurface data. According to Chariot, high-quality reservoirs were encountered in all gas sands. Further analysis will be undertaken to fully understand the positive implications on gas resources within the expanded Anchois field and the scale of the potential gas development. De-risking of numerous additional material exploration prospects within the Lixus license area with similar seismic attributes to the Anchois discovery is now considered to be low risk. Chariot said that the well would be suspended for potential future re-entry and completion as a production well in the development of the field. The Stena Don rig will then move to the Anchois-1 gas discovery well to perform re-entry operations with the objectives of assessing the integrity of the previously drilled well, and if successful, providing a future potential production well for the development of the field. “I am delighted to announce that Chariot, as well as conducting a successful appraisal well operation, has made a significant gas discovery at the Anchois-2 well which materially exceeds our expectations. We continue to conduct further analysis on the data collected from the well, but as it stands, we believe the result is transformational for the company,” Adonis Pouroulis, Acting CEO of Chariot, said. “This is a tremendous outcome[…]. With the recently announced key terms of gas offtake with a prominent international energy group, interest from two highly regarded institutional lenders to provide debt finance, an ongoing collaboration with a leading constructor of offshore gas projects, and now this successful gas well result, the Anchois project is getting closer to helping provide a clean transitional fuel to support Morocco’s industrial and economic growth,” he added.
Ghana: BOST To Build LPG Tanks Across Its Depots-MD
   

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com    

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com

Nigeria: Scrap Toothless NERC-Group To Buhari

Michael Creg Afful
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Nigeria: Scrap Toothless NERC-Group To Buhari
A group calling itself All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum is pushing for the scrapping of Nigeria’s Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The group’s call follows the displeasure expressed by President Muhammadu Buhari about the performance of the power sector in the West African nation. Last week, President Buhari expressed his unsatisfactory state of electricity supply in Nigeria. And that, to the group, is an indictment on the country’s electricity regulator and, therefore, advised the President to take a bold step to scrap it for failing Nigerians. “Our advice to the President is to scrap NERC for not living up to its responsibilities of regulating the industry,” National Coordinator of All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum, Adeola Samuel-Lori said during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos. He suggested to the President to move the responsibilities of NERC to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). “The government should put the sector under the supervision of the FCCPC which has, in recent times, showed that it has what is required to protect the interest of Nigerians. “If we have a regulator that cannot only bark but can bite, all the stakeholders in the electricity value-chain, especially the DisCos, will sit up.” Samuel-Ilori noted that the DisCos had for several years ignored NERC’s directives without sanctions, which had encouraged impunity in the sector. He said, for instance, NERC’s order on capping of Estimated Billing was not obeyed by some DisCos, thus compelling the All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum to institute a suit against NERC and the DisCos before an Ikeja High Court. According to him, the Meter Assets Providers scheme also stipulates a 10-day period for customers to be metered after making payment but some of the Discos are not adhering to the directive. Samuel-Ilori decried the slow pace of metering of electricity customers across the country, adding that Nigerians should be allowed to procure their meters directly from any source by the DisCos.

 

 

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com      
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