Embattled electricity distribution company, PDS Ghana Limited, is heading to London-based International Trade Arbitration for settlement after the Ghana-government terminated the concession agreement signed with the country’s southern electricity distribution company, ECG, energynewsafrica.com can report.
The company has almost completed its documentation and will, in the next few days, serve a notice to the London arbitration court to adjudicate the matter, sources close to PDS has hinted energynewsafrica.com.
PDS filed a suit at the commercial division of the Accra High Court to challenge revocation of their licences by the country’s electricity regulator, Energy Commission.
However, the court, on Friday, dismissed the application by Power Distribution Services (PDS), challenging the cancellation of its operation licences.
The court, presided over by Justice Akua Sarpomaa Amoah, threw out the application after dismissing all the reliefs which the applicant sought and upheld the opposition to the application by the Attorney-General (A-G), Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame.
Justice Amoah, however, did not give full reasons for her decision which, she said would be in her ruling filed at the court’s registry.
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Background
In July 2018, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), on behalf of the Government of Ghana, signed a concession agreement with Power Distribution Services Ghana Limited led by Meralco, a Philippine-based company, to take over the operations and management as well as undertake the requisite investments in the electricity distribution business of the Electricity of Company of Ghana.
The PDS was issued with a lease assignment agreement which allowed PDS to manage the assets of ECG, worth more than $3 billion and a bulk supply agreement for PDS to take over the distribution of electricity in the southern distribution zone of the country.
The Power Distribution Services, which was a consortium of Ghanaian and foreign entities, had 51 percent Ghanaian stake while the remaining 41 percent was for Meralco and its partners.
The conditions precedent of the agreements made it mandatory for PDS to secure a payment security to serve as a form of insurance for the assets of the ECG which it was managing.
The government said PDS presented a payment security in the form of demand guarantees from Al Koot Insurance, a Qatar-based insurance firm.
The government, however, started raising red flags in 2019 after accusing PDS of securing a fake demand guarantee.
According to the government, its checks revealed that Al Koot had not issued any demand guarantee for PDS.
The government, subsequently, terminated the concession agreement with PDS in October 2019.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Gambian Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Fafa Sanyang, has paid a working visit to Ghana to understudy the West African nation’s downstream petroleum sector.
The Minister was in Ghana with senior management staff of the ministry, as well as heads of some of their key agencies in the petroleum downstream sector.
The team met with officials of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), and Chamber of Bulk Oil Distribution Companies where they understudied Ghana’s methods of regulating the downstream industry, particularly with respect to lessons from the NPA.
The Gambian Minister and his team concluded their visit by meeting Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
In a Facebook post sighted by energynewsafrica.com, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh said during the meeting, The Gambian Minister said he and his team were very impressed with the systems Ghana has put in place to improve the quality of services customers receive and are returning to The Gambia with a lot of notes.
“I was happy to hear their study tour was beneficial and assured them that my doors are always open should they require any other assistance. I took the opportunity to also remind the delegation of the long-standing relationship between Ghana and The Gambia especially in the area of education. I advised the team to begin the process of joining the Africa Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) to enable Africa speak with one voice on petroleum-related issues in the global space.
“I thanked the team once again for their visit and wished them well,” his post concluded.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Credible information available to energynewsafrica.com indicates that a company owned by Ghanaian mining mogul, Sir Sam Jonah, was selected by US oil and gas super major, ExxonMobil, as its partner for the Deepwater Cape Three Points oil block offshore Republic of Ghana.
However, the Akufo-Addo-administration rejected ExxonMobil’s joint venture with Sam Jonah’s company.
According to sources, Sam Jonah’s company was selected after a rigorous selection exercise in London but the Government of Ghana did not like the idea, claiming that the company did not represent the larger interest of Ghanaians.
Energynewsafrica.com’s sources indicated ExxonMobil was not happy about Government of Ghana’s position.
The company was compelled by the circumstances to choose Ghana’s leading oil marketing company, GOIL, as its partner.
GOIL’s partnership with ExxonMobil, according to energynewsafrica.com’s sources, was in the view of government, serves the larger interest of Ghanaian since Ghanaians are shareholders of the company.
ExxonMobil signed petroleum agreement with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on behalf of Ghana for the development of Deepwater Cape Three Point oil block.
However, barely three years after the signing of the agreement, ExxonMobil has relinquished its 80 percent stake in the block.
Dr Sam Jonah
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com, Dr Jide Agunbiade, a Director at National Oil Varco Inc. and Vice President of the NOV Subsea Production Business Unit based in Houston, Texas, USA, said there were speculations that GOIL was forced on ExxonMobil by political powers.
Dr Agunbiade explained that apart from the fact that ExxonMobil was unhappy about its joint venture, other issues such as the nearly $20 billion write down in the value of its oil and gas assets globally, its biggest-ever impairment, also influenced the company’s decision to leave Ghana.
“Reports have it that GOIL, ExxonMobil’s partner, was forced on them by the political powers. This seemingly forced collaboration of two partners with entirely different development objectives and political interference is another reason Exxon is leaving. After the 2000-2008 presidential regime, it was frequently alleged that the initial zeal from Exxon to pursue the exploration of their assets in Ghana had reduced due to some unknown political reasons. The above factor, plus the fact that they have only made modest investments of US$60 million on some seismic work which would be easily recovered once they sell the asset, are the reasons.
Dr. Babajide Agumbiade, Director at National Oilwell Varco
“IOCs in Ghana are generally exempted from VAT. So it is pretty strange that Exxon was asked to pay a substantial amount in VAT. It is alleged that this payment was made before the VAT exemption law was passed. In Ghana, VAT reimbursement, especially from a different ruling government, is extremely difficult. This can drag for years sometimes. Aside from this, Exxon was also not happy about many things, including the alleged fact that they were not satisfied with their J.V. setup in the country,” Dr. Agunbiade said in a response to question posed by energynewsafrica.com.
Below is an excerpt of the interviews
U.S. oil and gas supermajor ExxonMobil has relinquished its 80 percent in the Deepwater Cape Three Point oil block offshore Ghana.
Since 2018 the company has spent close to $60Million, including acquiring seismic data on the oil block.
The work done so far included processing about 2,200 square kilometers (850 square miles) of seismic data, but Exxon didn’t drill any exploration wells.
When reached, ExxonMobil said it is “prioritizing near-term capital spend on the most advantaged assets with the lowest cost of supply in the portfolio, including developments in Guyana, Brazil and the U.S. Permian Basin.”
1. What is your initial comment on the issue?Response: My initial comment is that this is consistent with Exxon’s recent decision to take nearly $20Billion Write down in the value of its oil and gas assets globally, its biggest-ever impairment, and slash project spending next year to its lowest level in 15 years to put focus on Brazil, Guyana, Permian. From the above, ExxonMobil’s comment that they prioritize near-term capital spend on the most advantaged assets with the lowest cost of supply looks tenable. The other thing that might be driving their decision is that Exxon has been unusually reluctant and slowly pacing this project for a while now, even before the write downs after rumors surfaced that they were not working with their preferred local partner in Ghana. Reports have it that GOIL Ghana Limited (ExxonMobil’s partner) was forced upon them by the political powers. This seemingly forced collaboration of two partners with entirely different development objectives and political interference is another reason Exxon is leaving. Remember that after the 2000-2008 presidential regime, it was frequently alleged that the initial zeal from Exxon to pursue the exploration of their assets in Ghana had reduced due to some unknown political reasons. The above factor, along with the fact that they have only made modest investments of 60 million USD on some seismic work which would be easily recovered once they sell the asset, are the reasons.
2. What does this mean if they say they are “prioritizing near-term capital spend on the most advantaged assets with the lowest cost of supply in the portfolio including developments in Guyana, Brazil and the U.S. Permian Basin.”Response: This statement can be attributed to these main reasons:
a) The estimated discoveries in these countries are not only more significant but also a great deal of investments has been put into these assets until reaching their current development phases. This poses less financial exposure on Exxon’s capital investment and makes it more worthwhile to channel their resources there. There was a lot of back and forth between Exxon and the government when Exxon was ready to invest in their Ghana asset. Unfortunately, at the moment, investment in the Deepwater Cape Three Point oil block offshore Ghana will be long-term capital spend, something Exxon is getting away from globally. This caused them to focus on these other locations.
b) Time zones and proximity of assets more favorable to Exxon’s operations. For that matter, Guyana, Brazil, and the U.S. Permian Basin are all closer to home than Africa and Ghana. Fewer resources to be spent on logistics and other cost-related activities.
c) Exxon has a better relationship and control at the highest level of political authority in the locations mentioned above than in Ghana.
d) It can also be alleged that extreme local content laws, security concerns and negative political influence also led to this decision. Guyana, for instance, is still discovering itself as an oil-laden country. This implies Exxon will have more authority in making first-hand decisions to maximize revenue and profit.
3. Our checks indicated that ExxonMobil was unhappy about tax exemptions that the Gov’t of Ghana was failing to implement, which limited cash flow to the Ghana office, thus making it difficult to run the office…Can an IOC like ExxonMobil decide to move out of a country it has initiated exploration activities if part of the agreement is not being enforced or if one party doesn’t want to respect the agreement?Response: IOCs in Ghana are generally exempt from VAT, so it is pretty strange that Exxon was asked to pay a substantial amount in VAT. It is alleged that this payment was made before the VAT exemption law was passed. In Ghana, VAT reimbursement, especially from a different ruling government, is extremely difficult. This can drag for years sometimes. Aside from this, Exxon was also not happy about many things, including the alleged fact that they were not satisfied with their J.V. setup in the country.
4. Can this situation scare investors? If yes, what should Ghana do to attract oil and gas investors?
This situation can scare some investors new to the Ghanaian/African terrain but can also be an opportunity for another IOC to take over and build upon the already existing seismic work that Exxon has executed. An example is a case where Springfield, a local indigenous operator, took over Kosmos’ relinquished asset in Ghana.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Oil major ExxonMobil has failed to find commercial hydrocarbons at its Jabillo-1 located on the Canje Block offshore Guyana and will be moving on to drill the next well in the campaign in August.
ExxonMobil restarted drilling the Jabillo-1 well in early June 2021, using the Stena Carron drillship.
The Canje Block is currently operated by an ExxonMobil subsidiary, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana with Total Energies, JHI, and Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas as partners. Eco Atlantic has also recently entered the block through the acquisition of an interest from JHI Associates.
Eco Atlantic said in an update on Monday that the Jabillo-1 well reached its planned target depth and was evaluated but did not show evidence of commercial hydrocarbons. Jabillo-1 will now be plugged and abandoned.
The well was positioned offshore Guyana, approximately 265 km northeast of Georgetown, in 2,903 meters of water and was drilled to a total depth of 6,475 meters.
The Stena DrillMax rig is currently operating in the ExxonMobil-operated Stabroek Block in Guyana and is expected to move on to drill the Sapote-1 well, in the eastern portion of the Canje Block. The Sapote-1 Well is expected to be spud in mid-August 2021 with an estimated drilling time of up to 60 days.
The Sapote-1 prospect is located in the southeastern section of Canje and is a separate and distinct target from Jabillo.
Sapote-1 lies approximately 100 km southeast of Jabillo and approximately 50 km north of the Haimara discovery in the Stabroek Block, which encountered ~207 feet (63 meters) of high-quality, gas-condensate bearing sandstone reservoir and approximately 60 km northwest of Suriname’s Maka Central discovery in Block 58, which encountered ~164 feet (50 meters) of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
Gil Holzman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented: “While today’s update from JHI is disappointing, this is the nature of oil exploration”.
Holzman added: “The next well in the program, Sapote-1, is located adjacent to existing discoveries and it is expected to be spud in mid-August 2021. The targets in the region have proven to hold some hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and oil equivalent and we look forward to similar scaled results from this upcoming well”.
The Minister for Energy for the Republic of Ghana, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, on Friday, introduced his three Deputy Ministers to the management of the ministry.
They are Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, MP for Karaga Constituency, William Owuraku Aidoo, MP for South Afigya Kwabre, and Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, MP for Sekondi Constituency.
Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam and William Owuraku Aidoo previously served as deputy ministers for Energy in charge of Petroleum and Power respectively.
Some industry watchers were of the view that the duo would be made to serve in their previous portfolios but credible information available to energynewsafrica.com pointed to the contrary.
Dr. Mohammed Amin, who is a petroleum economist with many years of experience, has been assigned as the Deputy Minister in charge of Power while William Owuraku Aidoo has been put in charge of Infrastructure and Finance, with
Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, a lawyer, put in charge of Petroleum sector.
In a Facebook post sighted by energynewsafrica.com, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh noted that the three would be assisting him in various capacities to run the day-to- day activities of the ministry and ensure the utmost efficiency of the sector.
During the meeting, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh said: “I took the opportunity to update them on the newly restructured organogram and urged them to be diligent in executing their duties to ensure that we collectively resolve the issues in the energy sector as well as meeting all the targets as promised in the NPP 2020 manifesto.
“I look forward to working with these brilliant men,” he concluded.
The governing New Patriotic Party NPP stated in its 2020 Manifesto: “Our priority in the energy and petroleum sector is to increase efficiency and ensure value-for-money for all activities, including reliable and affordable power generation and distribution, and further development of the oil and gas sector, as well as renewable sources.”
The party promised to pursue this goal through the following measures:
1. Enforcing competitive procurement of power, the least cost fuel procurement, and
2. minimizing excess capacity charges through the ongoing renegotiation exercise to
3. improve upon the financial health of the sector
4. reducing losses, particularly in power distribution, by ensuring ECG and NEDCo implement
5. incentive-based loss reduction targets for all District Managers
6. significantly improving revenue collection with the implementation of remote sensing technology which is currently being piloted by ECG
7. completing ongoing rural electrification projects to ensure transformation of our rural economies
8. continuing the Auction-Based Licensing strategy for exploratory Oil Blocks to ensure value for money, and
9. Enforcing Local Content policies for the Upstream and Downstream sub-sectors.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Sixteen Ministers of Energy and Petroleum from across Africa have confirmed their participation in this year’s Africa Oil Week, orgnisers of the continent’s flagship oil and gas event, Hyve Group Plc, has said.
Several CEOs and Directors of National Oil Companies, as well as former Presidents of Nigeria and Malawi, have also confirmed their participation.
The annual event, which usually takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, has been moved to Dubai, UAE, due to rising cases of covid-19 in South Africa.
It would start and end from November 8-11, 2021.
The initial line-up consists of two former African Presidents, Commissioner for the African Union Commission, Secretary General for AfCFTA and Ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Djibouti. This initial line-up suggests governments’ presence at the Africa Oil Week 2021 would be as strong as ever.
Paul Sinclair, VP of Energy and Government Relations for Africa Oil Week, said: “Governments are an integral part of Africa Oil Week and we are delighted to be able to provide the sector with much needed direct access to these leaders. Discussions onsite will take the form of 15+ National Energy Showcases, ministerial panel discussions and pre-arranged 1-2-1 meetings and will help to drive investment and advance energy projects in to, and across Africa.”
Africa Oil Week is known for gathering vast numbers of African and international energy ministers and acts as a deal-making platform for the most senior stakeholders within the African upstream industry.
Foday Mansaray, Director General for Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Directorate who has also confirmed his participation said “We are very much looking forward to attending Africa Oil Week in Dubai in November. We look forward to participating in the event and presenting opportunities that Sierra Leone has.”
The following Ministers and government leaders are among those who have confirmed to attend Africa Oil Week 2021:
H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria
H.E. Dr. Peter Arthur Mutharika, Former President of Malawi
H.E. Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission
H.E Wamkele Keabetswe Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
Hon. Jean-Marc Thystere Tchicaya, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Republic of Congo
Hon. Abdirashiid Mohamed Ahmed, Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Republic of Somalia
Hon. Timothy Kabba, Minister of Mineral Resources, Republic of Sierra Leone
Hon. Hon. John Munyes, Cabinet Sec Ministry of Petroleum & Mining, Republic of Kenya
Hon. Dr. Koang Tutlam, State Minister of Mines, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Republic of Ethiopia
Hon. Fafa Sayang, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Republic of Gambia
Hon. Lamine Seydou Traore, Minister of Energy and Water, Republic of Mali
Hon. Dr. Alexandre Dias Monteiro, Minister of Industry Trade and Energy, Cape Verde
His Excellency Abdesselam Ould Mohamed Saleh, Minister of Petroleum, Mines and Energy Mauritania
Hon. Tom Alweendo, Minister of Mines and Energy Republic of Namibia
His Excellency Samou Seidou Adambi, Minister of Water & Mine Republic of Benin
Hon. Bachir Ismael, Minister of Energy, Republic of Burkina Faso
Hon. Yonis Ali Guedi, Minister of Energy, Republic of Djibouti
Atty. Saifuah-Mai Gray, CEO, National Oil Company of Liberia
Hon. Archie Donmo, Director General, Liberia Petroleum Regulatory Authority
Francis Gatare, CEO, Rwanda Mining Petroleum and Gas Board
Proscovia Nabbanja, Ag. Chief Executive Officer, Uganda National Oil Company
Ms. Asha Omar, CEO, Somalia Petroleum Authority
Foday Mansaray, Director General, Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone
Maixent Raoul Ominga, Head, SNPC, Republic of Congo
Jerreh Barrow, Commissioner for Petroleum, Ministry of Petroleum & Energy, Republic of Gambia
Dr. Solomon Kassa, Director for Petroleum Exploration, Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, Republic of Ethiopia
Ibrahim Djamous, Director Gen Hydrocarbon, SHT, Republic of Chad
Mr. Famourou Kourouma, Director General ONAP, Republic of Guinea
Alem Kibreab, Director General of the Department of Mines at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Eritrea
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Mohamed Ghanem, the son of a Libyan oil minister during Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, has to pay $1.5 million after he was found guilty of bribery, a Swiss court ruled on Friday.
In one of the rare corruption cases tried internationally against officials from the Gaddafi regime, the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland found Ghanem “guilty of passive bribery of foreign public officials,” and ordered him to pay the sum to the Swiss government, Reuters reports.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) was the plaintiff in the corruption case and was seeking the $1.5 million as compensation. The Swiss court, however, dismissed NOC’s claim and ordered Ghanem to pay the sum to the government of Switzerland.
Mohamed Ghanem is the son of Shukri Ghanem, who was oil minister at one point during Gaddafi’s rule in Libya.
Shukri Ghanem’s body was found floating on the Danube in Vienna in 2012.
At the time, Austrian prosecutors ruled out foul play and said he died of a heart attack before falling into the river. Ghanem had fled Libya in 2011 after the uprising in the country started.
The uprising ended in October 2011 when Gaddafi was captured and killed in Sirte.
The bribery case tried in Switzerland is one of the rare international cases bought against Gaddafi-era senior state officials.
Jean-Marc Carnicé, the lawyer of Shukri Ghanem’s son Mohamed, told Reuters he planned to appeal the Swiss court ruling from Friday, saying Mohamed Ghanem was not involved in corruption. Ghanem is now based in Bahrain and is a senior bank executive.
“For me it is a judgement based on mistaken findings. And I consider this verdict to be unjust since there is no incident of corruption,” Carnicé told Reuters.
Back in 2016, a Norwegian court convicted the former chief legal officer of Norway-based fertilizer maker Yara, Kendrick Wallace, but acquitted the former CEO Thorleif Enger, on bribery charges, including bribes allegedly paid to the family of Shukri Ghanem.
The bribery case tried in Switzerland involved an alleged payment made by Yara into Ghanem’s Swiss bank account, a source with knowledge of the case told Reuters.
Source:Oilprice.com
Nigerian lawmakers on Thursday passed the country’s long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
This followed approval of recommendations of the report of the Senate Joint Committee on petroleum downstream, petroleum upstream and gas at plenary on Thursday.
According to Vanguard, Chairman of the Senate Joint Committee, who presented the Committee’s report, noted that the bill, when passed into law “will strengthen accountability and transparency of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd as a full-fledged CAMA company under statutory and regulatory oversight with better returns to its shareholders and the Nigerian people.”
On the frontier basins, he said the committee’s recommendation recognised the need for the country to explore and develop the country’s frontier basins.
This, he said was to take advantage of the foreseeable threats to the funding of fossil fuel projects across the world due to speedy shift from fossil fuel to other alternative energy sources.
“To this end, the committee recommends funding mechanism of 30 percent of NNPC Ltd profit oil and profit gas as in the production sharing, profit sharing and risk service contracts to fund exploration of frontier basins,” Sabo said.
On host communities’ development, he said to ensure adequate development of the host communities and reduction in the cost of production, the Joint Committee recommended five percent of the actual annual operating expenditure of the preceding financial year in the upstream petroleum operations affecting the host communities for funding of the Host Communities Trust Fund.
According to him, in the past 10 years, the country has only attracted less than five percent of the over 100 billion dollars capital investment inflow into Africa’s oil and gas industry.
He added that all stakeholders were in total support of the passage of the bill as there was no dissenting voice opposing its passage.
He described the bill as laudable and commendable, saying that its passage would bring the long awaited change in the oil and gas industry.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has held discussions with officials of Dubai Cable Company and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who is in Dubai with the Chief Director of the Ministry and CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr R. Yofi Grant, noted that the two companies presented great government-to-government proposals, to which the GIPC will be following up on.
He said Ghana is on the market for partnerships that seek to reward the nation properly for its natural endowment.
A former Energy Minister under the first administration of President Akufo-Addo, Mr Boakye Agyarko says he is in favour of a thorough investigation into the circumstances that resulted in the award of $170 million judgement debt payment against Ghana.
A London-based United Nations Commission on International Trade Law tribunal has ordered the Government of Ghana to pay a contractually defined early termination payment of more than US$134.3 million plus interest and costs.
This follows the termination of a contract between the Government of Ghana and Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC), an independent power producer.
In July 2015, Dr Kwabena Donkor, then Minister for Power under the President John Dramani Mahama-administration, signed an Emergency Power Purchase agreement with GPGC for the procurement of 107MW of electricity.
But the current administration, upon recommendations of Power Purchase Agreement Review Committee, terminated the contract because the company failed to meet conditions of the agreement.
Since GPCG secured a judgement debt against Ghana, the issue has generated public discussion with Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame giving indications of formally requesting the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service to probe the issue.
Speaking on Accra-based Net 2 TV, Mr Boakye Agyarko, who was the then Minister for Energy, and communicated Cabinet’s decision of termination to GPGC, was asked whether he supports calls for investigations into the causes of the payment of this debt.
“By all means, so far as there is a crime, why not? I am for investigations all through and through. People must be held accountable if found culpable. Lessons must be learnt,” he said.
South Sudan is experiencing a rapid drop in crude output as producing oil blocks have hit peaks and have begun to decline, according to Ministry of Petroleum Undersecretary Awow Daniel Chuang.
Block 3 and 7 in Upper Nile have fallen to 103,000 barrels per day from an initial 120,000 bpd. Blocks 1, 2 and 4 have come down to 48,000 bpd from 53,000 bpd, Awow Chuang said as carried by Bloomberg.
Block 5A is yielding 3,000 bpd after production resumed, and is expected to reach 8,000 bpd by the end of the year.
“The only potential is block 5A, which still remains capped,” he said.
“Today the production has dropped to 154,000 barrels a day from three producing areas.” It used to be as much as 180,000 barrels two years ago.
Oil shipments account for almost all of government revenues and declining reserves could spell doom for one of the world’s poorest economies.
To reverse the downturn, the African nation’s government will aim to improve the recovery factor — the extractable crude, Chuang said, without giving details. Blocks 3 and 7 have a recovery factor of only 23%, while blocks 1, 2 and 4 have 33%, he said.
“Block 3 and 7 can be increased to 35%, block 1, 2 and 4 to 45% and this will significantly increase production rates,” he said.https://energynewsafrica.com/index.php/2021/05/31/exxonmobil-abandons-ghana-almost-three-years-of-exploration/
Ghana’s utilities regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has launched a state of the art Database Management System (DMS) at its head office in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The US$165,000 project was fully funded by the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund through the African Development Bank (AfDB) and developed by local IT firm, Indisys Global Ltd.
The project provides a secure, multi-tier management system for all regulatory data with role-based access and front–end capability for processing, reporting and management of the Commission’s operations.
The DMS has about 22 features such as research assessment, projects, surveys, ratings, help desk, court cases and messages.
Speaking at a virtual launch of the Database Management System under the theme: ‘Effective Power Sector Regulation Through Improved Technology’, Executive Secretary of the PURC, Mami Dufie Ofori noted that the establishment of the DMS is in line with the overall digitisation agenda of the government and aimed at boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of doing business in Ghana for accelerated socio-economic development.
She expressed optimism that the initiative would open the Commission’s services and the utility sector to stakeholders by ensuring easy access to data.
She added that it would enable the Commission to access and disseminate the appropriate information and reports for effective decision making amongst many other outcomes.
“The DBMS, being launched today, is the latest addition to our digitisation process, which began with the installation of a state of the art electricity meter testing laboratory and computerisation of the Human Resource Management System.”
The next phase in this endeavor, Mrs Dufie said is to network the utilities’ operational system to access real-time performance data to enable the Commission take appropriate and timely regulatory decisions.
She commended the staff of PURC, the African Development Bank, as well as the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Trust Fund, for their support which has brought about the realisation of the initiative.
Making a statement on behalf of AfDB, Mr Callixte Kambanda, Manager for Energy, Policy, Regulation and Statistics, commended the PURC for its digitisation drive which, he said, falls in line with the Bank’s policy.
Mr Kambanda, emphasising on the importance of the Database Management System, charged the PURC to encourage the energy sector institutions to use the platform.
The Korean Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Lim Jung-taek, the guest speaker, was hopeful that the DBMS would help strengthen energy regulation in Ghana.
On her part, Minister for Communication and Digitisation, Ursula Ekuful, in a speech read for her, noted that the world is rapidly moving towards virtual activities and engagements, stating that any country that wishes to flourish in the twenty-first century must embrace technology and digitisation in its development agenda.
“The emergence of coronavirus has more than tripled the world’s digitisation rate,’’ she said.
She noted that PURC’s Database Management System would not only provide solutions for customers and increase information sharing with stakeholders, but would also vastly improve the Commission’s internal working relationships.
The Minister commended PURC and encouraged other government agencies to use information communication technology in the same way.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Government of Ghana is in talks with Russia’s oil and gas firm, Lukoil, to replace EXXONMOBIL, after the US super major relinquished its 80 percent stake in the Deepwater Cape Three Points Oil Block offshore Ghana.
According to sources, some oil and gas firms have started knocking the doors of the government, but Lukoil is likely to be the preferred company to partner GOIL and GNPC, the country’s national oil companies.
Energynewsafrica.com has contacted Lukoil for comment but the company is yet to respond to our questions.
A source at GOIL told energynewsafrica.com that the country’s leading oil marketing company was aware that the government is in talks with Lukoil.
The source said GOIL spent close to US$3 million as far as the Deepwater Cape Three Points oil block was concerned.
EXXONMOBIL signed petroleum exploration agreement with Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on behalf of Ghana for the development of Deepwater Cape Three Points Oil Block.
EXXONMOBIL held 80 percent stake while GNPC held 15 percent stake with GOIL holding the remaining five percent in accordance with the country’s local content policy LI2022.
The work done by the US super major included processing about 2222 square km of 3D seismic data.
According to sources close to the deal, EXXONMOBIL spent close to US$60 million.
The company, according to sources, had planned to spend US$12 billion to develop their block.
Speaking at the 52nd Annual General Meeting last week, Group CEO of GOIL, Osei Kwame Prempeh assured the company’s shareholders that the investment they made towards the Deepwater Cape Three Points oil block has not gone waste.
He said many investors have started knocking on the doors of GNPC to take-over the field.
“I believe there is no way we cannot have another investor; indeed ExxonMobil is the largest deepwater explorer and they assess their risk differently. If they assess and feel not satisfied with the risk and quantity, any middle level explorer will find it suitable, so as of now, GNPC has assured that people [investors] are knocking at their doors.
“If Exxon goes out doesn’t mean our investment is wasted but what we are hoping is that, we have already expended money on the project and if a new partner comes on board, our investment will be topped up from the five percent in Exxon. So, we believe it is not going to be difficult at all for us to get an investor very soon,” he said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Credible information available to energynewsafrica.com indicates that Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has been made the Deputy Minister for Energy responsible for Power while Kofi Egyapa Mercer, MP for Sekondi, has been made the Deputy Minister responsible for Petroleum.
William Owuraku Aidoo, MP for South Afigya Kwabre, who was Deputy Minister responsible for Power during the first term of the Akufo-Addo-administration, has now been made Deputy Minister responsible for Finance and Infrastructure.
Dr Amin Adam has worked extensively on extractive industries and resource management as a university lecturer, advisor on resource governance and a campaigner for transparency in resource management around the globe.
He has advised governments and provided technical support to civil society and parliamentary committees on energy, mines and finance in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, South Sudan and Kenya.
Before working at the Ministry of Energy, Amin Adam was the Founder and Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP).
He also worked as an Energy Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Energy in Ghana, Commissioner of Ghana’s Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Deputy Minister of State for the Northern Region, and Mayor of Ghana’s third city of Tamale.
He was also the Africa Coordinator of extractives industries in Ibis.
He held board positions in the Open Contracting Partnership; the Natural Resources and Community Review, the Weston Oil and Gas Fund; and Zoil Oil Waste Services, among others.
Dr Adam holds a PhD. in Petroleum Economics from CEPMLP of the University of Dundee in the UK specialising in petroleum fiscal systems, fiscal policy in resource-led economies, and resource governance.
He also holds an MPhil (Economics) and B.A. (Hons) Economics from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Economists of Ghana (ICEG).
Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer
On the other hand, Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer is a lawyer and holds Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and Bachelor of Law.
He studied at the Ghana School of Law and qualified as a lawyer in Ghana after passing his BAR examination.
Egyapa Mercer commenced his work with Messrs Acquah-Sampon and Associates, a firm of solicitors based in Accra in 2004 and joined First Atlantic Bank in Accra in 2007 as an Assistant Manager and advanced to become the head of the Legal Department.
He resigned in 2013 to set up the Mercer Company, a corporate and investment law firm based in Accra.
William Owuraku Aidoo
Regarding William Owuraku Aidoo, he is an energy consultant and a farmer.
Prior to entering politics, he was the Managing Director of Kucons Company Limited, a construction company involved in the construction and rehabilitation of dams.
He was a Senior Superintendent at the Ghana Education Service (GES) between 1991 and 1994 and a Senior Manager at the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) from 1995 until 2012.
While working at the bank, he doubled as a lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba, from 2009 to 2012. As a farmer, he won the national best farmers’ award for cashew production in Ghana in 2011.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
“I look forward to working with these brilliant men,” he concluded.
The governing New Patriotic Party NPP stated in its 2020 Manifesto: “Our priority in the energy and petroleum sector is to increase efficiency and ensure value-for-money for all activities, including reliable and affordable power generation and distribution, and further development of the oil and gas sector, as well as renewable sources.”
The party promised to pursue this goal through the following measures:
1. Enforcing competitive procurement of power, the least cost fuel procurement, and
2. minimizing excess capacity charges through the ongoing renegotiation exercise to
3. improve upon the financial health of the sector
4. reducing losses, particularly in power distribution, by ensuring ECG and NEDCo implement
5. incentive-based loss reduction targets for all District Managers
6. significantly improving revenue collection with the implementation of remote sensing technology which is currently being piloted by ECG
7. completing ongoing rural electrification projects to ensure transformation of our rural economies
8. continuing the Auction-Based Licensing strategy for exploratory Oil Blocks to ensure value for money, and
9. Enforcing Local Content policies for the Upstream and Downstream sub-sectors.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The next phase in this endeavor, Mrs Dufie said is to network the utilities’ operational system to access real-time performance data to enable the Commission take appropriate and timely regulatory decisions.
She commended the staff of PURC, the African Development Bank, as well as the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Trust Fund, for their support which has brought about the realisation of the initiative.
Making a statement on behalf of AfDB, Mr Callixte Kambanda, Manager for Energy, Policy, Regulation and Statistics, commended the PURC for its digitisation drive which, he said, falls in line with the Bank’s policy.
Mr Kambanda, emphasising on the importance of the Database Management System, charged the PURC to encourage the energy sector institutions to use the platform.
The Korean Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Lim Jung-taek, the guest speaker, was hopeful that the DBMS would help strengthen energy regulation in Ghana.
On her part, Minister for Communication and Digitisation, Ursula Ekuful, in a speech read for her, noted that the world is rapidly moving towards virtual activities and engagements, stating that any country that wishes to flourish in the twenty-first century must embrace technology and digitisation in its development agenda.
“The emergence of coronavirus has more than tripled the world’s digitisation rate,’’ she said.
She noted that PURC’s Database Management System would not only provide solutions for customers and increase information sharing with stakeholders, but would also vastly improve the Commission’s internal working relationships.
The Minister commended PURC and encouraged other government agencies to use information communication technology in the same way.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
