Source: https://energynewsafrica.comLaw abiding citizens should be at ease knowing that the NatJOINTS is not taking these threats lightly. Security forces are on high alert and ready to maintain stability in the country, and ensure the safety and security of South Africans. https://t.co/Ktl2XSa92E
— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) August 22, 2021
South Africa: Police Put On High Alert As Protesters Threaten To Shutdown Electricity, Fuel, Other Installations
South African Police Service (SAPS) is on high alert following threats by some citizens to shut down electricity, water and other sensitive installations in the country.
SAPs has indicated that it is deploying more than 5,500 law enforcement officers and law enforcement agencies to monitor the unrest, which is carried on under the ‘Ramaphosa Must Fall’ campaign.
Last month, the country witnessed nationwide unrest that left 300 people dead and several businesses looted and destroyed.
Meanwhile, in a tweet, Lirandru Themba, who is the Police Ministry Spokesperson, said: “Law abiding citizens should be at ease knowing that the NatJOINTS is not taking these threats lightly. Security forces are on high alert and ready to maintain stability in the country and ensure the safety and security of South Africans.
‘’Some messages also doing the rounds where people are mobilising to respond to the #Nationalshutdown. The public is urged not to respond to calls for violence and criminality & discouraged from participating in activities that seek to defy the rule of law,” she added.
Ghana: $36M Electric Meters Fraud: Why Is EOCO, National Security Delaying Prosecution-INSTEPR
The Institute for Energy Policies Research ( INSTEPR) is questioning the long delay in the conclusion of investigation and prosecuting of officials involved in the US$36 million electric meters acquisition fraud.
According to the Energy think-tank, its checks at the ECG revealed that all relevant documents regarding the fraudulent transactions have been submitted to the Economic and Organised Crime Office and National Security since 2017 but the two state investigative bodies are yet to prosecute the culprit involved.
“Why has it taken four years for the State Security Agencies in investigating this transaction? Who are the people behind L & R Investment and Trading Company in Ghana? The initial USD$12 million was paid to First Grace Limited. Who are the people behind this company? Why is the management of Capital Bank Limited not being prosecuted for the illegal discounting of the Letter of Credit?” INSTEPR raised these questions.
In a statement signed by the Executive Director of INSTEPR, Kwadwo Poku said: “We do not want to draw any conclusion since this matter is still under investigation, but I am sure every Ghanaian will agree with me that we need some answers and accountability now from our leaders on this fraudulent transaction. There is no way this transaction was done by the average Joe on the street.”
In 2016, the Ministry of Power, through the Ministry of Finance, made a payment of USD $36 million to L & R Investment and Trading Company Limited for the supply of single phase and three phase electric meters to ECG.
The total contract price for the supply of these meters were USD $39,999,566.44, to be supplied over a period of twenty-six (26) weeks.
When the contract was signed, an advanced payment of USD$12 million was paid to L & R Investments plus a Letter of Credit (LC) of USD$24 million.
The ECG has come under public scrutiny following revelations in the 2020 Auditor General’s Report which made damning findings about the power distribution company.
According to INSTEPR, it was doing an investigation into procurement lapses at the ECG after the recently published Auditor-General’s report.
“Electric meters procured for customers were found in the warehouse of ECG while customers across the country are in dire need of these meters. We learnt that not all the meters in the ECG warehouse are ready to be supplied to the customer, so we asked why?” Mr. Kwadwo quizzed.
The statement explained that in September 2016, the then Ministry of Power wrote to the Managing Director of ECG, informing him of a USD$80 million financing secured by the Government for the procurement of electric meters.
The said letter stated that local Ghanaian companies would be given USD$40 million and Messrs. L & R Investments and Trading Company, whose local representatives are Messrs. First Grace Limited, be given USD$40 million.
“The Ministry’s letter instructed the Managing Director of ECG to initiate discussion with the said suppliers with the view of entering into contract for the supply of these electric meters.
“The Ministry also asked for immediate response to their letter to facilitate cabinet and parliamentary approval.”
It added that the Management of ECG on their part, upon receipt of the Ministry’s letter, engaged Messrs. L & R Investments and six local Ghanaian companies.
After ECG had and evaluated the proposal from L & R Investment, a pre-contract meeting was held in October 2016 between the technical team of ECG and the Managing Director, in the name of Mr. Tao Wenhui for L & R Investment.
It said at the meeting, the Scope of Supply, Technical Classification, Due Diligence, Pilot Studies, Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) and Training of ECG metering Staff were discussed and agreed.
The two key conditions before the supply of the meters, after signing the contract, were the pilot study to assess the meters for two months and the Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT).
After the contract was signed and L & R given an initial payment of USD$12 million, the meters that were to be provided as samples (200 electric meters) for the pilot studies were not sent to ECG and the agreed travel of three representative from ECG to undertake the Factory Acceptance Tests in China before the manufacturing of the said meters did not take place.
“Without any of these conditions being met, the management of ECG was sent shipping documents for containers of meters at Tema Port. ECG informed L & R Investment that they cannot accept the containers because they have not followed the process agreed to as per their contract. After months of back and forth with L & R Investments, the containers of meters were cleared from the Tema Port to stop the accrual of demurrage.
“The meters in the containers were not the specification as per the supply contract.
“INSTEPR was told that the said contract was terminated in 2017 after legal consultations on non-performance by L & R Investment. This company, after months of not conforming to the agreed conditions of their contract, went ahead to discount the USD$24 million Letter of Credit (LC) given to them under the contract. We have sighted documents that state that on the 16th of August, 2017, at a time when Capital Bank Limited had ceased to be a bank under the laws of the Bank of Ghana, Capital Bank discounted the LC and made a payment of USD$22.5 million to L & R Investment.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Fuel Prices Up By 12 Pesewas
Consumers of petroleum products in the Republic of Ghana are paying more for fuel as the prices of the commodity shot up by 12 pesewas at the weekend.
Both petrol and diesel were selling at GHS6.23 as at last Friday.
However, both petrol and diesel witnessed an increment of 12 pesewas on Sunday, pushing the prices of the two major products upward to GHS6.35 per litre on the local market.
It would be recalled that energy think-tank, Institute for Energy Security (IES) predicted that prices of fuel would witness a marginal reduction.
“For this window, with the 1.49% reduction in the price of the International Benchmark- Brent crude, the 2.17% decrease in price of Gasoline, the 1.77% decrease in Gasoil price and the marginal depreciation of 0.17% of the local currency against the US dollar,” the IES said in a statement last week.
That defeats the prediction by the IES.
As at Monday morning, Brent crude was selling at US$66.46 per barrel while WTI was trading at US$63.34.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Angola: Electricity Network To Receive $600 Million Investment
The Angolan government plans to invest approximately $600 million to strengthen and improve the quality of electricity supply in the Southern Region of the country by 2022.
The country’s Minister for Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges disclosed this recently.
According to him, the government has already started negotiations with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Kingdom of Spain.
The projects to be implemented include the construction of a 400km high-voltage line linking Huambo to Lubango.
GNPC-Aker Energy Deal: Why Is NDC Silent? Asks Kwadwo PokuThe work also includes the demining of the connecting road. This project is supported by the AfDB to the tune of $300 million. According to the Minister, the AfDB has already approved funding for the Huambo-Lubango connection line. The bank has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to this effect and a consultation for the launch of the public tender is underway. The country is also planning to build a connection line between Huambo and Matala at a cost of $100 million. A connection between Lubango and Namibe is also planned and will cost between $70 million and $80 million. In the province of Huíla, a solar energy project will be implemented in the municipality of Caraculo (Namibe). The Lubango/Namibe line receives funding approved by the Japan Cooperation Fund. The one that connects Huambo and Matala is financed by the Kingdom of Spain. This line will bring energy in particular to the mining region of Jamba.
Nigeria: Gunmen Kill Seven At Nigerian Gas Project Site
Gunmen killed a police officer and six employees of Nigerian oil and gas services company Lee Engineering during an attack on a project site in the southeastern state of Imo, last Tuesday.
Attacks on oil and gas facilities have long been a problem in Nigeria, where the multi-billion dollar industry sits alongside impoverished communities that have seen little benefit from it. In this case, the motive was unclear.
“We have declared the place a black spot and all efforts to arrest perpetrators are ongoing,” said Imo State police spokesman Michael Abattam.
“The command has put in measures to guard the workers in the area since it is prone to attack,” he said.
Lee Engineering could not immediately be reached for comment.
The attack took place on Monday at a location called Assa, according to Abattam.
The Lee Engineering website says the company has a project there involving the installation and construction of a gas primary treatment facility and the supply of a gas turbine generators and a waste heat recovery system.
Source: Reuters
NPA Boss Woos US Investors To Ghana’s $60 Billion Petroleum Hub Project
The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has called on investors in United States of America (USA) to consider investing in Ghana’s petroleum hub project.
According to him, his outfit is ready to provide the licences and permits to guarantee their investments in the project.
The Akufo-Addo-administration has planned to establish a petroleum hub in the Western part of the West African nation.
The $60 billion project, which is private sector-led, will have, among other facilities, four new oil refineries each with a capacity of 150,000bpd, storage tanks for crude and finished products, two oil jetties, two petrochemical plants with processing capacity of 45,000bpsd each, as well as waste and water treatment plants.
It is estimated that 780,000 jobs would be created when the project commences and completed.
The government, through the country’s national oil company (GNPC), has already earmarked $10 million to secure 20,000 acre land for the project.
Speaking during the official ribbon cutting ceremony at the Ghana Delegation pavilion at the just ended Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, USA, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid asserted that Ghana is the best place for the petroleum hub project because of political stability, geographical location, robust downstream sector and its high quality crude oil.
Dr Abdul-Hamid said the NPA would assist in the establishment of the petroleum hub by undertaking vigorous engagements with investor communities to be able to attract investments into the country, adding that the Authority would ensure it played its regulatory role by providing licences and permits for the establishment of the refineries, distribution and transportation infrastructure, and storage facilities, among others.
“It will also monitor the quality of petroleum products to ensure they meet specified standards,” he noted.
Dr Abdul-Hamid said the NPA would assist in the establishment of the petroleum hub by undertaking vigorous engagements with investor communities to be able to attract investments into the country, adding that the Authority would ensure it played its regulatory role by providing licences and permits for the establishment of the refineries, distribution and transportation infrastructure, and storage facilities, among others.
“It will also monitor the quality of petroleum products to ensure they meet specified standards,” he noted.
African Energy Chamber Awarded Energy & Corporate Africa Leadership Award In Houston, Texas
The African Energy Chamber has been awarded the Energy & Corporate Africa Leadership Award by Energy & Corporate Africa in Houston, Texas.
The African Leadership Awards aim to acknowledge and celebrate key advocates in the industry that continue to shape and empower communities.
“This prestigious award by Energy and Corporate Africa in Houston, is a tribute to the Oil and Gas industry’s commitment to building bridges and working with governments and investors to promote free markets, limited government, low taxes and cutting bureaucracy so the energy industry can work to provide jobs, hopes and opportunities to so many Africans and their investors,” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.
It is the recognition awarded on such honourable platforms that emphasize the significant role that the Chamber, along with fellow African energy advocates, continue to play in upholding a consistent and much-needed voice in Africa’s energy sector.
“I congratulate H.E Chief Timipre Sylva (Minister of Petroleum of Nigeria), Mallam Mele Kyari (Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) and Dr. Bryant (ABC) Orjiako (Chairman and co-founder of SEPLAT) on their well-deserved awards. They have done extraordinary work. The African Energy Chamber will continue working with pro-growth African governments and business leaders to ensure that the relationship between the oil and natural gas industry and governments remains strong.” added Ayuk.
Making energy poverty history by 2030 is a journey that needs strong and consistent voices. In the midst of a new global energy landscape, Africa’s energy journey is one that needs to be told and experienced by Africa. It is with this resilience that the Chamber continues to unite global and African energy stakeholders, drive industry growth and promote Africa as the destination for Africa-focused investment.
“We have an obligation build coalitions to drive energy into the continent. This award validates the basic idea that getting energy to work in Africa does not come at demonizing oil and gas companies and the working men that give everything to make this industry work. We need to build coalitions that win for the energy industry and Africans. The woke screams and antipathy toward free markets will not get us anywhere especially at a time when we have to deal with an African Energy Transition and Making Energy Poverty History” concluded Ayuk.
The African Energy Chamber is the largest energy advocacy group representing the majority of African energy industry.
The AEC advocates for free markets, personal responsibility, less regulation, low taxes, limited government, individual liberties, and economic empowerment will boost African oil and gas markets and economies.
Ghana: ECG Lost US$344.3 Million Revenue In 2018 Due To System Losses
Ghana’s southern electricity distribution company, ECG, recorded a huge loss of US$ 344.3 million in revenue as a result of system losses in 2018.
The company purchased a total power of 10,900.55 GWh from power producing companies in the West African nation.
However, ECG sold 8,251.47 GWh to customers with the remaining 2,649.08, which represented 24.30 percent of power purchased, being lost through system losses despite creating Revenue Protection Division and installation of Automatic Meter Reading for special load tariff customers put in place by management.
In monetary value, the 2,649.08 GWh is about $344,380,400million.
This was contained in the 2020 Auditor-General’s Report.
The report attributed the huge revenue loss to high transmission losses and electricity theft.
“ECG, in effect, lost 24.3% of its revenue for the year and this could affect the profitability and viability of the Company,” the report said.
Ghana: Government Loses Over $150 Million To Transmission Losses In A Decade (Article)The Auditor-General advised Management of ECG to determine losses which are due to technical and commercial challenges so as to deploy measures to reduce those losses. Responding to the issues raised by the Auditor-General, management of ECG said that currently, the estimation of technical losses is undertaken only in selected districts. For estimation of technical losses globally across all ECG districts at the same time needs a dedicated and well-trained team of personnel, a set of measuring tools including PQ analyser and voltage recorded, power flow software that can handle the modelling of both balanced and unbalanced loads, boundary meters, AMR meter and GIS software.
Ghana: Secret Behind GNPC, Aker Energy Deal Revealed
Credible information available to energyneswafrica.com suggests that the planned acquisition of stakes in the Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum Ghana oil blocks is a calculated move by some persons in the Akufo-Addo-government to enrich themselves at the expense of the West African nation.
According to information intercepted by energynewsafrica.com, should the deal go through, it would enrich persons who, our sources describe as a ‘gang of three’.
“For the record, if this deal is approved, Ghana will suffer because the government just taxes and enjoys royalties and not investment in a risky exploration. Now, the ‘gang of three’ wants to get wealth and collapse the portion Ghana enjoys without much risk,” the source explained.
Multiple sources of information obtained from persons in Government and people close to the country’s energy Ministry confirmed that the deal would not be in the interest of the nation and the citizenry, as claimed by GNPC in their memorandum but would only benefit few people in government who want to amass wealth.
Ghana’s Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku, recently, submitted a memorandum to Parliament of Ghana on behalf of GNPC, seeking approval for a loan of $1.65 million to enable Ghana acquire stakes in two oil blocks.
In the memorandum, GNPC, through its exploration company, Explorco, wants to acquire 37 percent interest in Deep Water Tano/Cape Three Point (DWT/CTP) operated by Aker Energy Ghana Limited; and 70 percent stake in the South Dee Water Tano SDWT operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited.
According to the memorandum, GNPC is proposing the establishment of a joint operating company between Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum Ghana Limited, and GNPC Explorco.
‘’An Operator Joint Venture (JV) will be formed between GNPC Explorco and Aker Energy/AGM,’’ the Parliament Memorandum said.
The joint operator company is expected to hold 40 percent stake with Aker Energy /AGM holding the remaining 60 per cent.
The Minister for Energy and the Minister for Finance are supposed to agree on a purchase price with Aker Energy/AGM.
Valuation
According to the document submitted to Parliament by the Energy Minister, the Aker Energy/AGM interests in the respective blocks have been valued by number of sources, including GNPC, Aker Energy/AGM, Artic Securities, Pareto Securities and Lambert Energy Advisory.
The valuations range between US$2.0 and US$2.55 billion, with prospects for the total share of Aker and AGM in the two blocks.
GNPC and Aker Energy/AGM jointly commissioned the independent Lambert Energy Advisory valuation report and agreed to use outcome as a reference point for the negotiation price.
Based on this report, the total share of Aker and AGM in the two blocks is US$2.55 billion.
The pro rata value of the GNPC Explorco share being acquired based on Lambert Energy Advisory is $US2.0 billion.
Value for money
In a statement issued last week, Alliance of Civil Society Organisations made up of 15 CSOs working in the extractive sector, good governance and anti-corruption raised concerns regarding the value of the assets as claimed by GNPC and Aker Energy/AGM.
The CSOs took issues with claims by Aker Energy that it had invested about US$800 million so far on the blocks in a document submitted to Parliament.
While GNPC claims it has verified the expenditures, the CSOs have doubts about the figures, insisting that it “appears inflated if juxtaposed against the amount of work done by Aker and the value of its acquisition three years ago.”
Aker Energy acquired Hess’s interest in the DWT/CTP for US$100 million in 2018. Before selling its interest to Aker, Hess had appraised the field with estimated recoverable oil of 450 million barrels.
In total, Hess drilled 12 wells (seven exploratory wells and five appraisals well). With that amount of work done, the highest valuation Hess got was about US$400 million in 2016 when it farmed out 40 percent to Lukoil and Fuel Trade for the entire field.
Aker claimed it has spent about US$420 million on five well drilled on the two blocks.
“In another document presented to the country’s Economic Management Team (EMT), the US$420 million relates only to the three wells on DWT/CTP. Given that the DWT/CTP cost is shared among the partners of the block the total expenditure claims for the wells could be in the region of US$600 or US$750 million compared with US$400 million by Hess for 12 wells, depending on which of the documents used. This is very high regardless of which of the information is used.
“The remaining US$280 million must be accounted for properly. GNPC claims that money was used for “certain activities essential for establishing resource in the blocks”. This is overly ambiguous and cannot be accepted as a cost with this kind of description which questions the distinction between that activity and data acquisition and studies done as part of exploration and appraisal,’’ the CSOs said.
According to energynewsafrica.com sources, Aker Energy is cash trapped and that explains their inability to develop their oil block.
Energynewsafrica.com’s sources indicated that Aker Energy was going to relinquish their stakes and walk away from the shores of Ghana just as ExxonMobil did.
One of the sources in Government remarked that “Aker Energy lied to the NPP government. We bend the rules to make it easier for them, but they have not been able to develop their oil block.
“What have they done with their own block?” the source quizzed.
The source concluded that “Aker does not have money.”
Another source in Government, who is angered by the GNPC’s to acquire stakes in Aker Energy and AGM blocks, wondered why the government now wants to buy stake in SDWT block when it reduced GNPC Explorco’s 24 percent from to 18 percent.
“First, why are we now paying for something we gave away for free? We also cannot be haphazard in the way we do things. We have to decide firmly on what type of National Oil Company we must have; either an asset manager or an exploration company. It is when that decision has been made that these investments decisions can make sense,’’ energynewsafrica.com’s source stated.
“Besides, Aker has proven they cannot develop the block so after a while, they will have to relinquish. So, why are we a poor nation bailing them out? Why is Aker not going to the capital markets to raise money as all others do?
“Those who got the free shares are now selling them back to government,” the source said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
OTC: More Jobs For Ghanaian Youth In The Energy Sector-Egbert Faibile Promises
The Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Ghana’s petroleum upstream regulator, Mr. Egbert Faibille, has disclosed that as part of government’s local content agenda in the petroleum sector, the Commission is to sponsor a 10-month training course of 150 technicians at the Takoradi Technical University.
Mr Faibille made this known during an event dubbed ‘Around the World Series’ at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, USA.
Mr Faibille is among a government delegation led by the Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh. Others include senior officials of the Ministry as well as heads and senior managers of various energy sector agencies.
Tracing the background to this development, Mr Faibille stated that in the Commission’s engagements with International Oil Companies (ICOs) on local content engagements, it had emerged that there were deficiencies in the skill sets and qualifications of the mid-level technicians that the Commission sought to get engaged by the IOCs.
He stated that the Commission, under the leadership of the Ministry of Energy, was seeking to reverse this by rolling out a number of training programmes for high-end international certification for Ghanaian youth, and that in the instant case, the 150 candidates had been selected from a total of over 2,000 young Ghanaians who had been examined.
Speaking on this issue, the Public Relations Officer for the Ministry of Energy, Mr Kwasi Obeng-Fosu explained that, these candidates would, on the completion of their training, be issued City and Guilds certification and come out as process technicians, instrumentation technicians and mechanical technicians.
He quoted Mr Fabille: “When we started our journey, we were looking at the high-end engineering and geoscience training. But over the period, we forgot, possibly, that we would have FPSOs in our waters, for which you would still need mid-level specialist technicians to perform key roles, just as a hospital needs both doctors and laboratory or dispensing technicians.”
The result, he noted, was that when the FPSOs berthed, a certain deficiency came to light, and the idea now is that if a person is coming into the country as an expatriate technician for say 2-3 years, then by the time the person leaves, there should be in his or her place, a Ghanaian technician who has understudied the expatriate and has been trained up to their standard both in terms of certification and practical experience and ready to take over. Ultimately, he noted this would drive down the cost of running the FPSO.
Touching on service provision and in-country spending as part of the local content conversation in the sector, Mr Faibille stated that this hovered around 67-70 percent and lauded international oil companies like Tullow for their commitment to this. However, he called for diversification of the supply base, noting that it is the same companies that supply the same services for the same oil companies and he called that a market failure.
“Tullow and others must be more welcoming of other suppliers so that the chain of monopoly is broken, else the local content story will remain stagnant,” he remarked.
This year’s OTC, which started on Monday 16th August, 2021, will end today.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Libya’s Oil Industry Desperately Needs A New National Budget
Libya will struggle to keep its oil production at current levels if the country fails to resolve a long-running dispute over its budget, according to Libya’s oil minister.
Mohamed Oun, Libya’s oil minister told Bloomberg that it plans on raising its crude oil production to 1.5 million barrels per day. This is up from the current 1.3 million barrels per day.
Back in July, Oun told media that it was shooting for 1.6 million bpd by the end of next year.
OPEC pegs Libya’s July crude oil production at 1.165 million bpd, according to secondary sources. Libya’s direct reported crude oil production came in at 1.273 million bpd, according to OPEC’s latest Monthly Oil Market Report.
But this plan’s success remains in jeopardy due to disagreements over the nation’s budget—Libya’s first national budget in nearly a decade.
“If the budget is not approved, there will be an impact and perhaps great difficulties in maintaining oil production rates,” Oun said.
Currently, Libya is exempt from OPEC’s output cuts.
Libya installed a unity government in March, and appointed a petroleum minister for the first time in five years.
Libya’s oil production was seriously disrupted for eight long months after a port blockade that began in January 2020.
But even after the blockade was lifted in September, Libya’s crude oil production has failed to be consistent, in part because of the Petroleum Facilities Guard strikes over unpaid salaries and a lack of funds needed to restore and maintain its infrastructure.
The most recent oil production disruption came from a leaky pipeline, which took 70,000 bpd offline while it assessed the damage and made repairs.
The latter highlights Libya’s growing need for funds to maintain its critical infrastructure.
Source: Oilprice.com
INNOVATION: Nuclear Scientists Hail US Fusion Breakthrough
Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields have revealed that they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source.
Experts focused their giant array of almost 200 laser beams onto a tiny spot to create a mega blast of energy — eight times more than they had ever done in the past.
Although the energy only lasted for a very short time — just 100 trillionths of a second — it took scientists closer to the holy grail of fusion ignition, the moment when they are creating more energy than they are using.
“This result is a historic advance for inertial confinement fusion research,” said Kim Budil, the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which operates the National Ignition Facility in California, where the experiment took place this month.
Nuclear fusion is considered by some scientists to be a potential energy of the future, particularly because it produces little waste and no greenhouse gases.
It differs from fission, a technique currently used in nuclear power plants, where the bonds of heavy atomic nuclei are broken to release energy.
In the fusion process, two light atomic nuclei are “married” to create a heavy one. In this experiment scientists used two isotopes of hydrogen, giving rise to helium.
This is the process that is at work in stars, including our Sun.
“The NIF teams have done an extraordinary job,” said Professor Steven Rose, co-director of the center for research in this field at Imperial College London.
“This is the most significant advance in inertial fusion since its beginning in 1972.” But, warned Jeremy Chittenden, co-director of the same center in London, making this a useable source of energy is not going to be easy.
Ghana: Prof Nyarko Appointed Chairman Of Nuclear Power Ghana Board“Turning this concept into a renewable source of electrical power will probably be a long process and will involve overcoming significant technical challenges,” he said. Source: Energyworld.com
Texas: Ghana’s Energy Minister Woos Investors To Gas Sector At OTC
Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has stated that the country’s huge gas reserves make it imperative for her to exploit and monetise it for industrialisation.
“I can feel the pressure on African countries to conform to the energy transition agenda, even though Africa has contributed marginally to the phenomenon that is driving this agenda. We have so much gas that we need the cooperation of Houston and its domiciled energy giants,” Dr Opoku Prempeh said.
The Minister made this call when he led a Ghanaian Delegation to pay a courtesy call on the Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, at his office in downtown Houston, Texas, USA.
The Minister is in the United States for this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) which is currently taking place in Houston, Texas.
In attendance at the meeting were Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA, H.E Hajia Alima Mahama, Deputy Minister, Egyapa Mercer, the CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Yoofi Grant, as well as senior officials from the Ministry and some of its agencies.
Their discussions focused on the energy sector in the context of energy transition, Ghana’s investment climate, international trade and empowerment of Africa in the global scheme of things.
Emphasising the significance of Houston and, for that matter US, Dr Prempeh said Ghana’s first oil find in commercial quantities was spearheaded by Kosmos, a Houston-based company, which left the country but is back.
He further emphasised on Ghana’s huge gas reserves which must be monetised for the benefit of our industrial agenda whilst making the case for companies to invest in Ghana.
He noted that energy transition did not mean an abandonment of “our natural oil and gas resources, which is why Ghana is at this year’s OTC to encourage investment flows into the country’s energy sector.”
In agreeing with the Minister, Mayor Turner noted that from Senegal all the way to Angola, huge gas reserves in the Gulf of Guinea made it imperative to discuss ways in which the continent can benefit from them within the framework of the energy transition conversation, noting that through clean technology, investments in carbon sequestration etc., it was possible to make good progress towards clean energy and called on African leaders to be more involved in this.
“My commitment to Africa is very real, and people like me want to do everything we can to make it happen, which is why I think it is important to have the continent’s leaders engage with the energy companies,” he stated.
In response, Dr Prempeh revealed that West African energy leaders intend to meet ahead of the next World Congress on Petroleum in December 2021 to ensure synergies and coordination of their views and strategies for the industry.
On her part, Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, H.E Hajia Alima Mahama stated that Africa is going through some reforms and recognises that she must develop through trade.
She disclosed that the AU recently ratified the AfCTFA, which was hosted in Ghana, so investing in Ghana is by extension an opening to a whole continental market. On job creation in the petroleum sector, she remarked that “the downstream sector will play a key role in the stability of the continent as it is a greater job creation tool.”
The OTC, which started on Monday, will end on Thursday 19th August, 2021. Among the Minister’s other engagements during the event are a keynote speech at a West African Oil and Gas Forum, an encounter with the Ghanaian community in Houston and several private engagements with various key players in Houston’s energy space.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
“My commitment to Africa is very real, and people like me want to do everything we can to make it happen, which is why I think it is important to have the continent’s leaders engage with the energy companies,” he stated.
In response, Dr Prempeh revealed that West African energy leaders intend to meet ahead of the next World Congress on Petroleum in December 2021 to ensure synergies and coordination of their views and strategies for the industry.
On her part, Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, H.E Hajia Alima Mahama stated that Africa is going through some reforms and recognises that she must develop through trade.
She disclosed that the AU recently ratified the AfCTFA, which was hosted in Ghana, so investing in Ghana is by extension an opening to a whole continental market. On job creation in the petroleum sector, she remarked that “the downstream sector will play a key role in the stability of the continent as it is a greater job creation tool.”
The OTC, which started on Monday, will end on Thursday 19th August, 2021. Among the Minister’s other engagements during the event are a keynote speech at a West African Oil and Gas Forum, an encounter with the Ghanaian community in Houston and several private engagements with various key players in Houston’s energy space.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Fuel Prices To Go Down Marginally-IES Predicts
The Institute for Energy Security (IES), a think- tank in the Republic of Ghana, has predicted a marginal reduction in fuel prices on the domestic market at the various pumps for the second pricing-window of August 2021.
The Institute said this will be due to the various changes in prices of the commodities on the international market which are expected to affect local market prices in Ghana.
“For this window, with the 1.49% reduction in the price of the International Benchmark- Brent crude, the 2.17% decrease in price of Gasoline, the 1.77% decrease in Gasoil price and the marginal depreciation of 0.17% of the local currency against the US dollar,” the IES said in a statement.
Local fuel market performanc monitored on a 15-day rolling basis, the price of fuel on the local Ghanaian market remained stable within the window under assessment.
Price of petroleum products within the first pricing-window of August 2021 saw the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) continue to maintain prices at the pump from the first pricing window of July.
The current national average price of fuel per litre at the pump remains pegged at Gh¢5.97 for both Gasoline and Gasoil on account of the relative price stability.
Prices dipped in this Windows in response to fears that the rising COVID-19 cases will affect demand for oil and its products. The rise in cases has been fueled almost entirely by the Delta Variant of the virus and the new Delta Plus variant both of which have highly contagious infection rates.
The place of concern was largely China which is the world’s largest importer of oil where cases continued to rise amid the Delta Variant spread from its shores.
The prices bounced back as the market seemed to shrug off the fears brought on by the lockdowns in China and other parts of Asia. The rise in demand across the Atlantic outweighed the impact from the COVID restrictions. The increase was also boosted by the passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in the US Senate which is assumed will increase demand in oil products and improve the economic performance of US in the short-to-mid-term, providing the much needed support for prices.
The rebound in fuel demand in India following the lifting of restrictions on New Delhi in July, the highest since April this year also incentivized the markets hope of rebound in demand for oil products. The country’s crude oil imports in June-July dropped to an average of the 2014-2015 levels of 3.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) but saw a leap in the July-August loading of 4.2 mbpd on the back of the demand recovery.
The refined products, Gasoline and Gasoil prices as monitored on Standard and Poor’s global Platts platform show that price of the two international commodities experienced marginal dips within the period. For Gasoline there was a decrease in price by about 2.17 percent to close the window at $726.15 per metric tonne from an earlier price of $742.25 per metric tonne. For Gasoil, the price saw marginal decrease of 1.77 percent to close trading at $588.67 per metric tonne from the earlier window’s price of $599.25 per metric tonne.
Local Forex
IES Economic Desk data from the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market shows that the Cedi marginally depreciated against the U.S. Dollar by 0.17 percent to close trading in the window at Gh¢5.867 to the US Dollar from the previous window’s Gh¢5.86 to the US Dollar.
PROJECTIONS FOR AUGUST 2021 SECOND PRICING-WINDOW
The various change in prices of the commodities on the international market is expected to affect local market prices in Ghana. For this window, with the 1.49 percent reduction in the price of the International Benchmark- Brent crude, the 2.17 percent decrease in price of Gasoline, the 1.77 percent decrease in Gasoil price and the marginal depreciation of 0.17 percent of the local currency against the US Dollar; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) projects that price of fuel on the domestic market at the various pumps are set to dip as we enter the second Pricing-Window of August 2021.
The downward adjustment may however be offset by the adjustments from the largest local market shareholder, GOIL, TOTAL and Shell.
Signed:
Fritz Moses
Research Analyst, IES
Prices dipped in this Windows in response to fears that the rising COVID-19 cases will affect demand for oil and its products. The rise in cases has been fueled almost entirely by the Delta Variant of the virus and the new Delta Plus variant both of which have highly contagious infection rates.
The place of concern was largely China which is the world’s largest importer of oil where cases continued to rise amid the Delta Variant spread from its shores.
The prices bounced back as the market seemed to shrug off the fears brought on by the lockdowns in China and other parts of Asia. The rise in demand across the Atlantic outweighed the impact from the COVID restrictions. The increase was also boosted by the passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in the US Senate which is assumed will increase demand in oil products and improve the economic performance of US in the short-to-mid-term, providing the much needed support for prices.
The rebound in fuel demand in India following the lifting of restrictions on New Delhi in July, the highest since April this year also incentivized the markets hope of rebound in demand for oil products. The country’s crude oil imports in June-July dropped to an average of the 2014-2015 levels of 3.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) but saw a leap in the July-August loading of 4.2 mbpd on the back of the demand recovery.
The refined products, Gasoline and Gasoil prices as monitored on Standard and Poor’s global Platts platform show that price of the two international commodities experienced marginal dips within the period. For Gasoline there was a decrease in price by about 2.17 percent to close the window at $726.15 per metric tonne from an earlier price of $742.25 per metric tonne. For Gasoil, the price saw marginal decrease of 1.77 percent to close trading at $588.67 per metric tonne from the earlier window’s price of $599.25 per metric tonne.
Local Forex
IES Economic Desk data from the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market shows that the Cedi marginally depreciated against the U.S. Dollar by 0.17 percent to close trading in the window at Gh¢5.867 to the US Dollar from the previous window’s Gh¢5.86 to the US Dollar.
PROJECTIONS FOR AUGUST 2021 SECOND PRICING-WINDOW
The various change in prices of the commodities on the international market is expected to affect local market prices in Ghana. For this window, with the 1.49 percent reduction in the price of the International Benchmark- Brent crude, the 2.17 percent decrease in price of Gasoline, the 1.77 percent decrease in Gasoil price and the marginal depreciation of 0.17 percent of the local currency against the US Dollar; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) projects that price of fuel on the domestic market at the various pumps are set to dip as we enter the second Pricing-Window of August 2021.
The downward adjustment may however be offset by the adjustments from the largest local market shareholder, GOIL, TOTAL and Shell.
Signed:
Fritz Moses
Research Analyst, IES