The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Eastern Region of Ghana has retrieved about GHS949,000.00 from detected illegal connections last year.
The amount represents penalties and surcharges slapped on customers who were caught using electricity illegally in 2019.
Speaking to the media in Koforidua, the Acting Revenue Protection Manager, Sylvester Ofosu Amankwaah stated that customers who were caught engaging in illegal connection in the region included hoteliers, restaurants owners, cold store operators, drinking pubs owners, individuals and some media houses.
He explained that the types of illegal connections detected included meter tampering, meter by-pass, illegal self-reconnection and illegal direct connection.
According to Mr. Ofosu Amankwaah, the Revenue Protection Unit of the ECG in the region, during their monitoring exercise, visited 4,014 meters and detected 16 unauthorised service connections, two illegal direct connections, 29 meters tampered, 176 faulty meters and 111 meters on wrong tariff class.
“Meters that were identified to be on wrong tariff classes were corrected and the identified faulty meters replaced”, he added.
Mr Ofosu Amankwaah stated that through the monitoring exercise, ECG was able to recover about 1,196,681KWh units of electricity which were lost through illegal connections and added that the total units recovered translated into GHS1,203,878 of which an amount of GHS949,116 had been retrieved from customers.
The Regional General Manager of ECG, Ing. Michael Baah stated that the Eastern Regional Office of ECG has initiated series of revenue protection activities aimed at unearthing illegalities in the system and reducing power losses due to power theft.
“If we are able to reduce commercial losses, we could achieve the system losses benchmark of 20 per cent by the end of the year 2020”, he said.
Ing. Michael Baah stated that it is a crime to steal power and that customers who are caught in such acts would be prosecuted.
“Anyone found culpable of illegal connection will face the law,” he cautioned.
He, therefore, cautioned customers to desist from illegal connection and endeavour to pay their bills.
He also encouraged members of the general public to voluntarily report any suspected illegal connection to the nearest ECG office and said, “ECG will reward informants of illegal connection”.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Akufo-Addo administration in the Republic of Ghana has begun fixing and replacing non-functional streetlights on the Accra-Tema motorway.
The exercise, which started few days ago, has so far seen replacement of non- functional streetslights from the Tetteh Quarshie interchange to the Sidalco stretch of the motorway.
Readers would recall that energynewsafrica.com reported in November last year that Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) had planned to fix streetlights on the Accra-Tema motorway as part of its plans to provide some 18,000 streetlights in Accra, capital of Ghana.
Contractors working on the streets lights on the Accra-Tema Motorway on Wednesday
However, energynewsafrica.com understands that prior to publication government had already taken the decision to it.
The 19-km Accra-Tema motorway, which was built during the era of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, in 1965, to link the harbour city of Tema and Accra, has been without streetlights for ages.
In June 2002, there was a report by the Ghana News Agency that the government of the West African nation was to spend 1.95 million cedis to light the motorway. The project was to commemorate the country’s Golden Jubilee in 2007.
The project had some challenges that delayed its completion.
The late President Atta Mills’ administration commenced the motorway streetlights project but it could not be completed.
Unfortunately, criminals along the motorway stole most of the electrical cables while irresponsible and reckless drivers knocked down most of the poles.
Many users of the road have lamented over the poor visibility on the road especially in the night.
It was the hope of many users of the road that one day the government would be concerned about the sad situation and act.
Ghana’s power distribution company, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has lost a whopping GHc1, 308,581.63 as a result of power theft.
The power theft was detected after a day and night operations carried out in seven regions by the Revenue Protection Unit of ECG from December 21, 2019, to January 7, this year in seven regions.
Out of 1,578 meters visited, the operation taskforces of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Revenue Protection Unit recorded 100 illegal connections.
The total charges of all the culprits amounted to GHc1, 460,795.79 but as at January 13, 2020, only GHc152, 214.16 had been paid to the ECG, which owes its creditor, Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), an enormous amount.
Michael Twum-Barima Boadu, General Manager of the Revenue Protection Unit, told journalists in Accra that hotels, night clubs, pubs and some suspicious homes were visited unannounced for the operation.
“We chose the holiday period because that was when we knew power thievery would be very high.
“We carried out the operations in Accra West, Accra East, Tema, Eastern, ASBU, Western and Central regions.
“We recovered 3,600 total kilowatt/hour (Kwh) units of power from the Eastern Region and that was the least. Accra West recorded the highest theft…the total charge was GHc1,056,421.94 and the balance to collect from the suspects is GHc1,040,969.78,” Michael Twum-Barima Boadu explained.
He said any one kilowatt of power lost is equivalent to US$17 million.
“So, I can tell you that we are losing a lot of revenues to illegal connections and we are going to go hard on power thieves,” Mr Boadu promised.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Siemens, a German global powerhouse focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ghana through the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) under the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) initiative.
The agreement will see Siemens working collaboratively with GRIDCo to upgrade and extend Ghana’s power transmission infrastructure, improve the country’s grid capacity and stability, as well as enable and expand a stable power export to neighbouring countries in the West African Power Pool.Addressing the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo during a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House to seal the deal, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Siemens, Joe Kaeser, said he was pretty much excited that the deal has finally been completed.
“The MOU we have signed together with our partners, GRIDCO, is aimed at modernizing the whole grid of Ghana to bring power to the people in a more efficient way,” Mr Kaeser said as carried by Starrfm.com.gh
President Akufo-Addo in response to the submissions by Siemens CEO noted that the signing of the MOU is a very important development in the history of the country.“This is a very welcomed development for us and the idea that Ghana is the first country on the continent to be getting a very significant transaction out the Compact (G20 Compact with Africa, CwA) is in itself a big vote of confidence by the German Leadership”. “We welcome that expression of confidence and we want to assure you that the monies will be put to good use”
The G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) was initiated under the German G20 Presidency to promote private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure.
The CwA’s primary objective is to increase the attractiveness of private investment through substantial improvements of the macro, business and financing frameworks.Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) allowing the two organisations to strengthen their relationship and accelerate efforts to rapidly increase the share of renewable power in EBRD countries of operation, helping minimise climate impact and use electricity more sustainably.
The partners agreed both to cooperate more closing on developing and delivering technical assistance to support the continued growth of renewable energy, and to develop a pipeline of bankable renewable energy projects that can be financed by the EBRD as well as other financing partners.
“We come together with our partners to harness our strengths and put them to work to deliver investments. It is this kind of action that we expect will make a difference,” EBRD Managing Director for Sustainable Infrastructure Nandita Parshad, who signed the deal for the regional development bank during the 10th IRENA Assembly in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi said.
On his part, the Director-General for IRENA, Francesco La Camera said: “Renewables are the only readily available solution that will enable sustainable economic growth, close the energy and infrastructure gap and meet our climate and development ambitions at the same time. Today’s strategic partnership unites IRENA’s knowledge excellence on renewables with EBRD’s global portfolio to promote renewable energy investment.
Through cooperation with partners on the Climate Investment Platform CIP we have started working towards unlocking the much-needed financial resources for clean energy transition particularly in developing countries. By addressing the key risks and barriers that hinder the scale-up of renewable investment, we will accelerate the low-carbon energy transition and promote sustainable growth.”
TGS, a leading provider of multi-client geoscience data for exploration & production (E&P) companies, has appointed Scott Michell as Senior Vice President in-charge of Imaging.
According to the company, Scott will oversee all Imaging and R&D activities, and focus on further enhancing the Company’s technology portfolio.
TGS made the announce in a statement posted on the company’s website.
Scott joins TGS with 28 years of experience in the Oil & Gas industry, initially with Conoco and the last 23 years with BP.
He served in a range of senior leadership roles focused on developing and applying seismic acquisition and imaging technology solutions to reduce exploration, appraisal, and production risk.
Some of Scott’s career highlights include his most recent role at BP as Global Seismic Delivery Manager and Director of Geophysics, co-inventor of the Wide Azimuth Towed Streamer (WATS) technology, Deep Water Ocean Bottom Seismic technologies, designing and leading the seismic imaging technology program in the U.S., and Seismic Delivery Manager for 3 of BP’s key regions – Gulf of Mexico, U.S. lower 48 and Alaska.
Scott has also been named in several high profile patented seismic technologies, is widely published and is a regular speaker at key industry forums.
Meanwhile, TGS has also sign an agreement with Google Cloud in a bid to secure access to cloud-based on-demand compute power and also compliments TGS’ on-premises compute capacity.
The arrangement provides a flexible hybrid compute solution that enables TGS to deliver on complex, compute intensive projects and to focus on cycle time reduction while preserving superior data quality.
Commenting on the appointment and the agreement, Jan Schoolmeesters, Executive Vice President of Operations at TGS, said, “We are excited to welcome Scott to TGS and equally excited to announce our partnership with Google Cloud. These combined efforts support our next phase of innovation and expansion and will help bolster the company’s future performance as we head into an evolving market. We are particularly well placed to respond to the market’s needs by providing high-quality processing and complex imaging solutions. This will enable us to continue to help our customers de-risk their exploration activities faster.”
TGS, a leading provider of multi-client geoscience data for exploration & production (E&P) companies, says it has completed the purchase of four 3D seismic surveys in the North Slope region of Alaska.
In a statement posted on the company’s website, TGS, said the newly acquired seismic programs provide modern high-resolution imaging which encompass 1,606 square kilometers with an additional 632 square kilometers to be acquired in 2020.
The surveys, which advance TGS’ effort to expand into active frontier basins, are further complemented by TGS’ extensive well data library that will assist exploration companies to further evaluate new reservoir targets and rejuvenate historic discoveries. New project acquisition, Kuukpik 3D Phase 2, is fully supported by industry funding.
“The addition of this data in Alaska is an exciting step for TGS and reinforces our commitment to assisting renewed exploration efforts in the region. I am very pleased to see the growth of our onshore portfolio into a historically productive region with tremendous potential for significant new hydrocarbon discoveries. Our unique combination of seismic and well data products delivers valuable insights into the North Slope for the best subsurface understanding available,” Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, said.
The North Slope of Alaska is a prolific oil and gas producing region of the United States with over 17 billion barrels produced since the 1960’s. Onshore and near-shore discoveries have proven reserves in structural and stratigraphic traps in numerous formations ranging in age from the Mississippian Endicott Group to the Oligocene Franklin Bluffs Member.
Recent discoveries in the Cretaceous topsets of the Nanushuk formation have revitalized exploration efforts in the Western North Slope and provided analogues for additional similar stratigraphic discoveries in the Eastern North Slope.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed a strategic agreement with Japan to store crude oil at storage facilities in Japan.
Under the strategic agreement, which extends a previous deal expired at end-2019, ADNOC will store over 8 million barrels of crude oil at storage facilities in Japan and could trade that oil as the Abu Dhabi company is pushing into the oil trading business.
At the same time, ADNOC will make sure that there is some amount of crude oil left at the Japanese facilities in case of oil shortage or emergency.
The new three-year deal “positively contributes to Japanese energy security, while also supporting ADNOC’s broader trading ambitions,” Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group’s chief executive said in a statement, as reported by the National
Around a quarter of Japan’s crude oil imports come from the UAE, while 90 percent of Japanese oil demand is met with imports from the Middle Eastern region, according to Reuters estimates.
For resource-poor Japan, the deal is part of boosting its energy security, while ADNOC gets access to more storage and trading opportunities in the world’s fastest-growing oil demand market, Asia.
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) renewed last month the crude oil tank lease agreement with Saudi Aramco. The Saudi Arabian state oil giant will be able to store crude oil in the next three years at a facility in Okinawa, while Japan will receive preferentially the crude in case of emergency.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s downstream regulator, National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has hit the ground running this year with the setting up of an electronic cargo tracking system and national command centre.
The state of the art centre, located within the head office of the NPA in Dzorwulu, Accra, will enable the NPA monitor the movement of Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) or tanker which is the mode of transportation of petroleum products in the West African country.
Delivering a speech to officially commission the centre, Chief Executive Officer of NPA, Hassan Tampuli explained that the introduction of the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) and the Command Centre is aimed at further tightening the controls in the petroleum products supply chain.
Also, the center would provide a platform for planned control measures to be deployed at the retail outlets to ensure maximum tax revenue mobilisation by the state.
He said such a control would help in the fight against illicit activities in the petroleum downstream Industry.
“In the course of this year, we will be deploying Automatic Tank Gauging and Stock Management and Monitoring systems at retail outlets throughout the country. This system will give the NPA and the GRA real time view of petroleum stocks at all retail outlets in the country,” he revealed.
In 2014 alone, Ghana lost a revenue of GH¢ 43 million due to fraudulent activities by petroleum transport service providers.
“The NPA is determined to curb illicit activities in the petroleum downstream Industry and have been in collaboration with the National Security Council in the fight against illicit activities.”
The NPA plans to enhance the platform provided by the BRV and the Electronic Cargo Tracking System and the Command Centre to build a formidable controlling and monitoring system for petroleum products distribution from imports and refinery production to the retail outlets and bulk customers.
Vice President Dr. Mahammudu noted that activities within the downstream petroleum sector cost the country over US$200 million per annum in the form of direct petroleum tax revenue, subsidies that do not get to the targeted constituencies and abuse in transport claims for transportation of petroleum products among others.
The dynamics of illicit activities in the petroleum downstream industry requires a multi-pronged solution to ensure sanity in the industry.“I, therefore, charge the NPA to enhance and sustain the already initiated technological interventions such as the Petroleum Product Marking Scheme, the Bulk Road Vehicle Tracking and Volume Monitoring System, the Enterprise Relational Database Management System (ERDMS) and now the Electronic Sealing and Cargo Tracking System,” he said.
The Vice President welcomed plans by the NPA to enforce the use of flowmeters with temperature compensation features at all petroleum product depots and deployment of Automatic Tank Gauging and Stock Management and Monitoring Systems at retail outlets in the country.“These systems will give the regulatory authorities such as the NPA and the GRA, real time view of petroleum product stocks and movements at all retail outlets and depots in the country.
He urged the NPA to vigorously pursue these plans and also enhance its collaborative activities with the National Security Council and the Ghana Revenue Authority in finding a lasting solution to the illicit activities in the Petroleum Downstream Industry.
Industry Coordinator, Kwaku Agyemang Duah commended NPA for the initiative, stating that it would go a long way to help in fighting criminal activities in the industry.
On his part, Chairman of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC), Johnny Blagogee expressed belief that the Electronic and Cargo Tracking System and National Command Centre would help to fight illegal activities in the downstream petroleum sector.
“It will help us because we will not pay for what we haven’t sold. I mean the GRA will know what we have received and what we have sold and pay on the basis of what we have sold and not on what we haven’t sold out,”he said.Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has offered 69 production licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf to 28 oil and gas companies as part of the Award in Pre-Defined Areas 2019 (APA 2019).
The APA licensing rounds cover the most explored areas on the Norwegian shelf. One of the primary challenges in mature areas is the expected decline in discovery size. The ministry of petroleum announced APA 2019 in May. The authorities assessed applications from a total of 33 companies through autumn 2019.
Announcing the results of the licensing round on Tuesday, the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Sylvi Listhaug, said: “The companies show great interest in further access to new exploration acreage. This means that the industry believes in future value creation on the Norwegian continental shelf.”
Of the 69 production licences, 13 are in the Barents Sea, 23 are in the Norwegian Sea, and 33 are in the North Sea.
A total of 28 different oil companies, ranging from the large international majors to smaller domestic exploration companies, are offered ownership interests in one or more production licenses. Of these, 19 will be offered operatorships. The licenses are awarded with work-program commitments or as additional areas to such licenses.
Torgeir Stordal, head of exploration at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), said: “The 2019 awards with new licences from the southern North Sea to the Barents Sea demonstrate the companies’ continued interest in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Production licences are being offered both in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea which will require new seismic data and use of new technology to evaluate the resource potential. It will be exciting to watch how this develops in the coming years.”
Stordal added: “It is encouraging that companies show willingness to test new exploration concepts. Many are also focusing on proving resources near existing infrastructure. This combination is important for continued value creation on the Norwegian Shelf.”
Offer of licenses to 28 licensees (number of licenses /operatorships): Aker BP (15/9), Shell (5/2), Capricorn (3/3), Chrysaor (8/3), Concedo (4/0), ConocoPhillips (5/3), DNO (10/2), Edison (2/1), Equinor (23/14), Idemitsu (2/0), INEOS (2/1), Lime (2/0), Lotos (2/0), Lundin (12/7), Neptune (13/4), OKEA (5/2), OMV (4/1), ONE-Dyas (3/0), Pandion (3/0), PGNiG (3/0), Repsol (1/0), Source (3/0), Spirit (6/1), Suncor (5/2), Total (2/1), Vår Energi (17/7), Wellesley (7/3), Wintershall Dea (9/3).
Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Dr Mahammudu Bawumia is expected to launch an electronic cargo tracking system and the national command centre Tuesday.
The official ceremony, which is taking place later in the afternoon, is expected to be attended by several industry players.
More soon
Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of Petroleum, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has paid a working visit to Buipe in the Northern Region to inspect the extent of damage that occurred at the BOST tanker yard.
Dr Amin Adam was accompanied by Deputy Managing Director of BOST, Moses Asem, and CEO of National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli.
The tanker yard was recently gutted by fire. In the process, four Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs), two of which were loaded with petroleum products, were considerably damaged.
In a statement issued by BOST, it said the two trucks contained 36,000 liters of diesel (AGO) and 36,000 liters of petrol (PMS) at an estimated cost of GHc194, 760.00.
In a Facebook post Monday, Dr Amin Adam said President Akufo-Addo’s administration would support the construction of a tanker yard and the upgrading of the fire station at the BOST Depot.
“The Ministry of Energy has also directed the NPA to conduct safety audit on the facilities to enable a review and improvement on the safety protocols.
“Similarly, safety audits have recently been conducted at the facilities in Tema, Takoradi and Kumasi through collaborations between NPA and Kosmos Energy,” he said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Energynewsafrica.com can confirm that Mr Asante K Berko has been appointed the Managing Director (MD) of Ghana’s only refinery, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
Asante Berko replaces Isaac Osei who resigned from his position as MD of TOR in the embers of December 2019.
Following Isaac Osei’s exit, Herbert Ato Morrison was appointed to act until a substantive MD was appointed.
Asante Berko, before his appointment, was the Executive Director of Goldman Sachs International in London.
He was also the Debt Capital Markets and Structured Assets Solutions of Barclays Capital/Absa Capital Johannesburg, SA. from June 2008 to June 2014.
He was responsible for the creation of Structured Asset Solutions Group that focuses on de-risking Absa Bank Balance Sheet and bespoke high margin esoteric trade for clients.
Between July 2005 and March 2008, when he was the Vice President of Credit-Suisse, Assets Finance, New York, he was responsible for structuring student loans and other esoteric assets such as films, aircraft, rail-car leases, small business loans (both real estate and non-real estate related assets), middle market loans, drug royalties and insurance.
He, again, successfully secured mezzanine and equity funding from the Special Opportunities Fund of Credit-Suisse (CS) for a structured settlements finance company.
Mr Berko was also responsible for analysing and making pricing and structural recommendations to desk on distressed SIVs.
Asante Berko was also the Vice President and Portfolio Manager of SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey, Debt Capital Markets-CDO Group, Atlanta, from June 2004 to July 2005. He co-managed a $500 million portfolio that invested in mezzanine tranches of both cash and synthetic CDO transactions.
From September 2000 to June 2004, Mr. Berko was a Manager at Ernst & Young where he was in charge of Asset Finance Solutions/ Leasing Group in San Francisco.
He was a senior consultant at Ernst & Young in New York between April 1998 and September 2000.
Our checks indicate that the new TOR MD met the Board of Directors of TOR last Friday and yesterday, Monday.
An official statement to that effect is expected to be issued soon.
Source:energynewsafrica.com
The Nigerian Navy has arrested nine suspects at the Bonny waterways in Rivers State, in connection with smuggling of undisclosed quantity of crude oil.
The suspects have been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria.Executive Officer of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Port Harcourt, Capt. Adegoke Ebo, said the suspects lifted the oil from illegal refineries scattered across creeks in the Niger Delta.“In line with the Nigerian Navy policing role, our patrol team intercepted and seized MT Lady Ochy together with eight suspects onboard the vessel on Dec. 1.“MT Lady Ochy was seized around Sambero River in the state on suspicion of its involvement in crude oil theft.
“At the time of seizure, the vessel was laden with unspecified quantity of petroleum product suspected to be crude oil.” Ebo said that shortly after the arrest, the Lagos-registered vessel was towed to anchorage in Bonny Island to enable naval investigators carry out preliminary investigation.“Following the investigation, we arrested another suspect, who is manager of the vessel.“The suspect was brought in for questioning bordering around the activities of the vessel as well as his own involvement in the allege crime.
“We have concluded our investigation, and, as such, we are here to hand over the nine suspects, vessel and crude oil to EFCC to continue with investigation,” shipsandports.con.ng quoted Adegoke Ebo as saying.He assured of the navy’s zero tolerance to crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other illegalities in the nation’s maritime domain.According to him, the navy is currently on a massive campaign to rid Rivers waterways of illegalities to boost economic and social activities.Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Addressing the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo during a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House to seal the deal, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Siemens, Joe Kaeser, said he was pretty much excited that the deal has finally been completed.
“The MOU we have signed together with our partners, GRIDCO, is aimed at modernizing the whole grid of Ghana to bring power to the people in a more efficient way,” Mr Kaeser said as carried by Starrfm.com.gh
President Akufo-Addo in response to the submissions by Siemens CEO noted that the signing of the MOU is a very important development in the history of the country.
“This is a very welcomed development for us and the idea that Ghana is the first country on the continent to be getting a very significant transaction out the Compact (G20 Compact with Africa, CwA) is in itself a big vote of confidence by the German Leadership”. “We welcome that expression of confidence and we want to assure you that the monies will be put to good use”
The G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) was initiated under the German G20 Presidency to promote private investment in Africa, including in infrastructure.
The CwA’s primary objective is to increase the attractiveness of private investment through substantial improvements of the macro, business and financing frameworks.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com 
“The addition of this data in Alaska is an exciting step for TGS and reinforces our commitment to assisting renewed exploration efforts in the region. I am very pleased to see the growth of our onshore portfolio into a historically productive region with tremendous potential for significant new hydrocarbon discoveries. Our unique combination of seismic and well data products delivers valuable insights into the North Slope for the best subsurface understanding available,” Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, said.
The North Slope of Alaska is a prolific oil and gas producing region of the United States with over 17 billion barrels produced since the 1960’s. Onshore and near-shore discoveries have proven reserves in structural and stratigraphic traps in numerous formations ranging in age from the Mississippian Endicott Group to the Oligocene Franklin Bluffs Member.
Recent discoveries in the Cretaceous topsets of the Nanushuk formation have revitalized exploration efforts in the Western North Slope and provided analogues for additional similar stratigraphic discoveries in the Eastern North Slope.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com 
Also, the center would provide a platform for planned control measures to be deployed at the retail outlets to ensure maximum tax revenue mobilisation by the state.
He said such a control would help in the fight against illicit activities in the petroleum downstream Industry.
“In the course of this year, we will be deploying Automatic Tank Gauging and Stock Management and Monitoring systems at retail outlets throughout the country. This system will give the NPA and the GRA real time view of petroleum stocks at all retail outlets in the country,” he revealed.
In 2014 alone, Ghana lost a revenue of GH¢ 43 million due to fraudulent activities by petroleum transport service providers.
“The NPA is determined to curb illicit activities in the petroleum downstream Industry and have been in collaboration with the National Security Council in the fight against illicit activities.”
The NPA plans to enhance the platform provided by the BRV and the Electronic Cargo Tracking System and the Command Centre to build a formidable controlling and monitoring system for petroleum products distribution from imports and refinery production to the retail outlets and bulk customers.
Vice President Dr. Mahammudu noted that activities within the downstream petroleum sector cost the country over US$200 million per annum in the form of direct petroleum tax revenue, subsidies that do not get to the targeted constituencies and abuse in transport claims for transportation of petroleum products among others.
The dynamics of illicit activities in the petroleum downstream industry requires a multi-pronged solution to ensure sanity in the industry.
“I, therefore, charge the NPA to enhance and sustain the already initiated technological interventions such as the Petroleum Product Marking Scheme, the Bulk Road Vehicle Tracking and Volume Monitoring System, the Enterprise Relational Database Management System (ERDMS) and now the Electronic Sealing and Cargo Tracking System,” he said.
The Vice President welcomed plans by the NPA to enforce the use of flowmeters with temperature compensation features at all petroleum product depots and deployment of Automatic Tank Gauging and Stock Management and Monitoring Systems at retail outlets in the country.
“These systems will give the regulatory authorities such as the NPA and the GRA, real time view of petroleum product stocks and movements at all retail outlets and depots in the country.
He urged the NPA to vigorously pursue these plans and also enhance its collaborative activities with the National Security Council and the Ghana Revenue Authority in finding a lasting solution to the illicit activities in the Petroleum Downstream Industry.
Industry Coordinator, Kwaku Agyemang Duah commended NPA for the initiative, stating that it would go a long way to help in fighting criminal activities in the industry.
On his part, Chairman of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC), Johnny Blagogee expressed belief that the Electronic and Cargo Tracking System and National Command Centre would help to fight illegal activities in the downstream petroleum sector.
“It will help us because we will not pay for what we haven’t sold. I mean the GRA will know what we have received and what we have sold and pay on the basis of what we have sold and not on what we haven’t sold out,”he said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
