Ghana: Springfield Strikes 1.2bn Barrels Of Oil In Deepwater
Springfield Exploration and Production Limited (SEP), an independent Ghanaian upstream company, has made a discovery of more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil in its deepwater drilling off the coast in the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana.
The company last month commenced its drilling activity in the West Cape Three Points Block 2 and a little over a month later made a discovery that was set to be announced publicly last week but was called off at the last hour.
Chief Executive Officer of Springfield, Mr. Kevin Okyere, says the historic achievement chalked by his company was symbolic of what determination and perseverance could do for any individual or group of people.
He noted that from the onset, there were many who doubted the ability of Springfield to go beyond obtaining the Block from the Government, adding that even when the company brought in the world’s largest seismic vessel to Ghana to undertake research, there were ‘doubting Thomases’.
Mr. Okyere expressed hope that Springfield’s successes offshore and the numerous experience it had gathered reaching this far, would become a lesson to other Ghanaian and African companies to learn from.Springfield had drilled two wells in the past 40 days and made discoveries in both.
According to the company, out of the 1.2bn in proven reserves, 30-35 percent would be recoverable in addition to commercially viable quantities of gas.
The company is expected in the coming days to announce the findings.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Fishermen At Salakope ‘Starved’ Of Premix Fuel For Over Two Years
Premix fuel, a commodity which is used by fishermen in the West African country, Ghana, is said to be in short supply at Salakope, a fishing community in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region.
The situation has slowed down fishing and other economic activities in the area.
According to the Ghana News Agency, fishermen in the area alleged that the premix fuel pump in the area had not had deliveries for over two and a half years and that the situation was impacting negatively on their livelihood.
The report said due to shortages at places where the fishermen bought premix from, they were compelled to go for petrol and engine oil from filling stations at high cost, resulting in their inability to embark on regular fishing expeditions.
“Our canoe is most of the time, berthed at the landing beach site here because our operation cost is far outweighing our gains. If we get the premix fuel, better but without it, we run at a loss. I don’t want to talk about the women. They complain about the price of fish lately,” one opinion leader said.
Premix fuel is a blue-dyed, highly subsidised blend of fuel made for use by fishermen as government’s intervention in the fisheries sector.
National Premix Committee (NPC) established in July 2009 oversees the administration and distribution of the petroleum product to pumps at the various landing beaches across the country.
The report said the Chief Fisherman and Chairman for Salakope Landing Beach Committee in charge of running the premix fuel station, Torgbui Emmanuel Anomoo Tettey confirmed that the pump had been empty for about 30 months.
According to him, the Salakope Premix Fuel Station had been owing five oil marketing companies (OMCs); G & G, Frimps Oil, Infin, Plus Energy and Rural Energy in excess of GH¢80,000 since 2017.
He said the situation came about when members of the committee responsible for keeping proceeds from the sale of the product failed to render account and to pay for deliveries received.
He said attempts were made to get Mr Innocent Lartey, Secretary to the Committee (now at large), believed to be in charge of the proceeds to pay but unsuccessful. Mr Elliot Edem Agbenorwu, Ketu South Municipal Chief Executive, implored the committee to find means to settle the debt owed the OMCs for them to resume receiving deliveries for their fishing activities.
Mr Agbenorwu said though he felt the pains of Salakope fishermen, the Assembly was not in the position to defray the outstanding debt.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Kosmos Energy, GOIL, Sunon Asogli & Total Petroleum Ghana Ltd Shines At 2019 Ghana Club 100 Awards
Ghana’ leading oil marketing company, GOIL, has been adjudged the third company at the 2019 Ghana Club 100 list while Total Petroleum Ghana Limited placed the seventh position on the list at an awards night last Friday, November 15 at the Kempinski Hotel, Accra.
Ghana’s upstream oil and gas player, Kosmos Energy Ghana secured the second company position while independent power producer, Sunon Asogli Power Plant Ltd. also placed fourth on the list.
The event organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) was on the theme “Sustainable Agriculture; The Bedrock of Ghana’s Industrialisation Drive”.
The Ghana Club 100 (GC100) is an annual compilation of the top 100 companies in Ghana to give due recognition to successful enterprise building.
The GC100 is about corporate excellence hence companies making it into the list are to serve as role models for the private sector and provide a forum for corporate Ghana to interact with the government at a high level.
MTN Ghana was adjudged the number one company at the awards ceremony.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was the special guest of honour presented the award to MTN Ghana.
See the full list below:
1. Scancom Plc. (MTN)
2. Kosmos Energy Ghana
3. GOIL
4. Sunon Asogli Power Plant Ltd.
5. IT Consortium
6. ASA Savings and Loans
7. Total Petroleum Ghana Ltd.
8. Goldfields Ghana Ltd.
9. Olam Ghana Ltd.
10.Agro ECOM Ghana Ltd.
11.Anglogold Ashanti Aduapriem
12.Newmont Goldenrich Ghana Ltd.
13.Unilever Ghana Ltd.
14.GCNet
15.Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd.
16.GCB Bank Ltd.
17.Enterprise Trustees
18.Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd. subsidiary of ABSA
19.Metropolitan Health Insurance Ghana Ltd.
20.Ecobank Ghana Ltd.
21.B5 Plus Ltd.
22.Enterprise Life Company Ltd.
23.Poly Kraft Ghana Ltd.
24.Letshego Ghana Savings and Loans
25.Nexans Cable Metals Ltd.
26.Kiteko Ghana Ltd.
27.Maphlix Trust Ghana Ltd.
28.Afcott Ghana Ltd.
29.Stanbic Bank Ghana Ltd.
30.Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd.
31.Fiaseman Rural Bank
32.Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd.
33.Cal Bank
34.KEK Insurance Brokers
35.Melcom Ltd.
36.GTBank Ghana Ltd.
37.Microfin Rural Bank Ltd.
38.Papaye Ghana Ltd.
39.Landtours
40.Starlife Assurance
41.Nutrifoods
42.Goldfields Tarkwa and Damang mine
43.TekSol Ltd.
44.Niche Cocoa
45.Izwe Savings and Loans
46.Kane-Em Industries Ltd.
47.Glico Life Insurance Company Ltd.
48.Tobinco Pharmacy Ltd.
49.Sefwiman Rural Bank Ltd.
50.Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank Ltd.
51.Amenfiman Rural Bank
52.Enterprise Insurance Company Ltd.
53.Societe Generale Ghana
54.L’aine services Ltd.
55.Bayport Savings and Loans
56.Fanmilk Ltd.
57.GHL Bank Ltd.
58.Poly Tanks
59.Ahantaman Rural Bank Ltd.
60.Manya Krobo Rural Bank Ltd.
61.Bosomtwe Rural Bank Ltd.
62.Sunu Assurances Ghana Ltd.
63.New Crystal Health Services Ltd.
64.South Akyem Rural Bank Ltd.
65.Builsa Community Bank Ltd.
66.Interplast Ltd.
67.Otuasekan Rural Bank Ltd.
68.Star Assurance Company Ltd.
69.Kaaseman Rural Bank Ltd.
70.Olam Cocoa Processing Ghana
71.G4S Security Services Ltd.
72.Upper Amenfi Rural Bank Ltd.
73.Activa International Insurance Company Ltd.
74.SIC Insurance Company Ltd.
75.Glico Healthcare Ltd.
76.Leasafric Ghana Ltd.
77.Juaben Rural Bank Ltd.
78.Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank Ltd.
79.Crocodile Matchets Ghana Ltd.
80.Ghana Rubber Estates Ltd.
81.Prudential Life Insurance Ghana Ltd.
82.Amansie West Rural Bank Ltd.
83.Amanano Rural Bank Ltd.
84.Tropical Cables and Conductors Ltd.
85.Odotobri Rural Bank Ltd.
86.Kintampo Rural Bank Ltd.
87.Bawjiase Area Rural Bank Ltd.
88.M&G Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
89.Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd.
90.Kasapreko Company Ltd.
91.Asokori Rural Bank Ltd.
92.Anum Rural Bank
93.Access Bank
94.Akuapim Rural Bank Ltd.
95.Asante Akyem Rural Bank Ltd.
96.ADB Bank
97.Starwin Products Ltd.
98.Glico General Insurance Company Ltd.
99.Acacia Health Insurance
100. Japan Motors Trading Company Ltd.
Discretionary Awards
Largest Taxpayer – Scancom Ghana Plc., MTN
Fastest Growing Company – Sunon Asogli Power Plant Ltd.
Most Profitable Company – GCNet
Largest Company in Ghana – GOIL
Best New Entrant Company – Agro ECOM Ghana Ltd.
Best CSR Organization – Newmont Ahafo Mine
Best Listed Company – Cal Bank
Ghana: Vantage Exits Its Genser Investment
Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest independent fund, has announced that it has successfully exited its $18.5million investment in Genser Energy, a management-owned, independent power producer.
Genser provides distributed power generation solutions in Ghana to multinational industrial and mining companies including Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Kinross Gold Corporation, and more recently, Perseus Mining Limited and Golden Star Resources.
Vantage’s exit was financed by a consortium of South African banks including Standard Bank, Nedbank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa which, alongside the Barak Fund and Africa 50, have committed over $230 million of facilities to the company for debt refinancing and further expansion.
Vantage’s funding enabled Genser to almost double its capacity, by constructing a 30 MW power plant contracted by Kinross Gold Corporation’s mine at Chirano. With the support of local Ghanaian banks, Genser went on to complete two additional power plants at Gold Fields Ghana’s Tarkwa and Damang mines, adding substantial capacity to the company’s portfolio. The additional debt now being provided by the incoming South African banks will enable Genser to further expand the total capacity of its existing plants from 100 MW to 190 MW. Genser also intends to build an additional 190km of natural gas pipeline to connect the rest of its power plants, and once completed Genser will have increased the onshore natural gas pipeline infrastructure in Ghana by nearly 160%.
“Vantage has realised an excellent return on its investment in Genser. The company has quickly scaled up to address the energy shortages in the country, and Vantage provided support to help bring about this vision. Genser’s ‘in-the-fence’ business model, whereby plants are constructed on the site of major clients underpinned by ten-year power purchasing agreements, has proved to be very successful,” Luc Albinski, Vantage’s co-Managing Partner, commented.
Johnny Jones, a Partner at Vantage, stated: “The Genser investment is a good example of the productive use of mezzanine to assist companies in achieving their growth objectives when banks have limited appetite to lend, without requiring significant equity dilution by the owners. Since Genser is a family owned business, the owners appreciated the fact that mezzanine provided them with growth capital which did not materially dilute their shareholding.”
Warren van der Merwe, Vantage’s co-Managing Partner concluded: “2019 has been a year of significant realisations for Vantage. This year we have exited Timrite, a mining supplies business, Austell, a pharmaceutical company, and now we have achieved a third significant exit with Genser. In aggregate we have returned $318 million to investors across 11 exits.”
Frances Rogoz, Vice President of Project Development for Genser, acknowledges Vantage’s role in the growth of the company: “With Vantage as an early-stage mezzanine investor, Genser was able to access capital that allowed us to kick start a period of rapid growth. The strong return we are able to provide to Vantage is a testament to that growth and to the robust energy sector in West Africa in which we operate
South Africa: Total Discovers Gas Condesate Offshore Well In South Africa
Total S.A., a French multinational integrated oil and gas company, has made a gas condensate discovery on the Brulpadda prospects, located on Block 11B/12B in the Outeniqua Basin.
The exploration well encountered 57 metres of net gas condensate play in Lower Cretaceous reservoirs. Following the success of the main objective, the well was deepened to a final depth of 3,633 metres and has also been successful in the Brulpadda-deep prospect.
Speaking at Africa Oil Week, Dr Enzo Insalaco, Vice President Exploration Africa at Total explained that South Africa has become an interesting area for exploration.
That interest has been illustrated by the recent activity by the industry, which has seen a significant amount of seismic capture and blocks being taken in Namibia and South Africa.
“Much of that activity is early stage, so 2D or 3D,” Insalaco said.
“What we will see in the next few years is an uptick in reservoir drilling and exploration. We have a strong position in the oil basin, so we have a couple of blocks in the Orange Basin and in South Africa the 11B/12B block where this discovery was made.”
For Total, Brulpadda was certainly a high impact well for opening up a significant petroleum basin.
“It was a very bold technical well,” Insalaco continued.
“Many people may not realise that the well was actually drilled on 2D. It is a deep offshore well, so drilling on 2D was a very bold move. But given our understanding of the basin and the innovations we did on the operations, this well could be drilled safely and successfully on 2D.”
“As we know, it was an operational success just as much as a technical success; we drilled the well within budget, within time and in terms of NPT we have about 3% of NPT and 3% waiting on weather.
“If you consider the conditions, that is fantastic operational performance. We drilled the well to the main reservoir log and then we went down to a deeper reservoir.
Insalaco added that they were ready for 3D and were already negotiating contracts.
With the initial phase of the 3D seismic acquisition programme over the basin completed, the Brulpadda well results will be integrated with the 3D seismic data ahead of the drilling programme in 2020, which will include up to three exploration wells.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Oil Proceeds Hit $668m In Nine Months
Oil proceeds from Ghana’s oil fields in the western part of the country for the period January-September 2019 amounted to $668.5m, energynewsafrica.com can report.
The figure is, however, lower than what the West African country raked in as revenue compared to the same period in 2018, representing a shortfall of about $55.1m.
Presenting the 2020 budget statement in Parliament, Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta blamed the revenue shortfall on the fall in crude oil prices on the international market.
“Speaker, actual receipts of $668.41m for the period up to September 2019 is lower than the realised receipts of $723.55m for the same period in 2018, due mainly lower than programmed crude price released for the period ($63.72 per barrel compared to $70.34 per barrel in 2028),” he read.
The Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) requires that not more than 70 percent of the government’s net petroleum receipts is designated as Annual Budget Funding Allocation (ABFA) and not less than 30 percent designated as GPFs.
“Out of the amount transferred into the GPFs, the GHF received not less than 30 percent, with the rest transferred into the GSF.
“Mr. Speaker, the 2019 petroleum receipts were distributed based on the provisions of the PRMA (as amended). Out of the total revenue of US$668.41 million, the national oil company, GNPC, was allocated a total of US$148.19million, made up of Equity Financing Cost (US$95.66 million) and its share of the net Carried and Participating Interest (US$52.54 million),” Mr Ofori-Atta said.
The Finance Minister also gave details of how the oil proceeds were spent:
Agriculture- 70,273,236.75; Physical Infrastructure and Service Delivery in Education 570,865,917.58; Physical Infrastructure and Service Delivery in Health- 43,646,794.46; Road, Rail and Other Critical Infrastructure Development- 300,258,670.79 Sub-Total- 985,044,619.58 Public Interest and Accountability Committee- 2,900,000.00 Grand Total- 987,944,619.58; Public Debt Developments For 2019.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Gov’t To Provide Total Access To Electricity By 2030
The Republic of Ghana has announced plans to provide universal access to electricity its citizens by 2030.
The West African nation intends to use solar energy to bridge the 15 percent gap in the provision of electricity across the country.
The country’s Minister of Energy, Mr John Peter Amewu, announced this in Accra on Thursday, November 14, 2019, in a speech read on his behalf at a validation workshop on the findings of off-grid solar market assessment in the country.
He indicated that rural and peri-urban Ghana were the targets for the electrification programme.
In a boost to attain that dream, the minister said, Ghana had been selected among 19 African countries in West Africa and the Sahel to benefit from a $265-million facility to increase access to electricity by rural folks.
The project will kick-start simultaneously in beneficiary countries from January 2020.
An assessment of the off-grid solar market was conducted in the beneficiary countries to identify the major supply and demand-side barriers to the establishment of a sustainable market and yesterday’s workshop was to validate the findings of the study in Ghana.
Participants included stakeholders from the public and the private energy sector.
A monitoring and evaluation expert, Mr. Collins Osae, said the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) had, since 2017, been pursuing an agenda of facilitating the implementation of concrete on-the-ground projects, of which the Regional Off-Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP) was part.
ROGEP covers 15 ECOWAS-member states and four other non-ECOWAS countries, including Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic and Mauritania.
Its development objective is to increase electricity access to households and businesses, using modern stand-alone solar systems through a harmonised regional approach.
The financiers of the project are the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation of the government of The Netherlands, which is providing $265 million for the initiative.
The ECREEE is the technical implementation partner, while the West African Development Bank is the financial implementing partner.
According to promoters of the project, the ECREEE Secretariat, on the basis of the market study, would build the capacity of off-grid (stand-alone) solar businesses and also support an awareness campaign to remove barriers and help create an ecosystem to develop a regional market of solar products.
Ghana: Calls For Taxes To Be Removed On LPG Surprising-Charles Adu-Boahen
A Deputy Minister for Finance in the Akufo-Addo-administration in the Republic of Ghana, Charles Adu-Boahen has described as shocking several calls by members of the association of LPG Marketers in the country.
He said it is surprising to him that the LPG marketers are behaving the way are doing, when the government has actually maintained the price of the domestic commodity.
Vice President of the LPG Marketers Association, Gabriel Kumi, recently, indicated that if the government wanted to achieve its objective of increasing LPG consumption from 25 percent to 50 percent by 2030, then, it had to consider their request of reducing the taxes on the commodity.
“Government has no other option than to take away all the taxes and levies from the product to make it more accessible and more affordable so that the ordinary Ghanaian can use it,” he stated.
But, commenting on the issue during an interview with an Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Charles Adu-Boahen said the government has done well by maintaining the prices through the intervention by the Ministry of Energy.
“This is a big surprise to me,” he said.
According to him, “when we were looking at the ESLA increment, we intentionally left LPG out for this reason because we wanted to encourage more people to use LPG. So the Ministry of Energy recommended that we don’t touch LPG because we are trying to roll out a programme to promote LPG consumption.
“We have all this gas being produced and we need to get consumption to increase because LPG is better than firewood.”
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Kosmos Energy Elevates Ghana’s Joe Mensah To Senior Vice President Position
US oil and gas production company, Kosmos Energy, has elevated the Manager of its Ghana’s office, Joe Mensah, to Senior Vice President and Head of the Business Unit of the West African country.
Joe Mensah’s elevation comes after serving with distinction as Country Manager since joining the company in 2015.
Per his elevation, Joe Mensah will be responsible for the overall performance of the Ghana business unit, maintaining strong relationships with partners, government and civil society and advancing the company’s social investment programmes, including the activities of the Kosmos Innovation Center.
“Joe has established Kosmos as a leader among international oil companies through understanding local interests and creating a shared agenda that is mutually beneficial to both country and company. I am confident that he will lead the local Ghanaian staff and the supporting team in Dallas into a new era for Kosmos — redefining how the company supports Ghana’s economic and social development,” Andrew G. Inglis, Kosmos Energy’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said in a statement.
Mr. Mensah joined Kosmos in 2015, most recently from IBM Ghana where he was the Country General Manager in charge of all aspects of the company’s operations.
During his more than 30 years with IBM, Mr Mensah held a variety of leadership roles in sales and marketing before establishing IBM’s presence in Ghana in 2009.
Benin: Itron To Provide Advanced Metering Infrastructure Network
Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE), the only energy distributor in Benin, has selected Itron to modernise its electricity distribution system.
Itron will provide the utility with an advanced metering infrastructure network, 40,000 smart meters and energy prepayment management platform.
The AMI will be deployed in the city of Cotonou to help SBEE reduce energy losses and billing errors.
Itron will provide project management, training and support to the utility as well as integrate IPMP as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
AM Afrique, a user of the SaaS jointly with the SBEE, will operate the system and will assure the data exchanges with other internal systems of SBEE (e.g., billing and customer management systems).
SBEE provides energy to more than 600,000 customers and is confident its partnership with Itron will help improve its cash flow.
Customers will be able to pay their bills through a self-service internet portal, Android-based point-of-sale terminals and smartphone applications.
The project is the foundation for the Benin utility to deploy distribution automation applications to strengthen the resilience of its grid in future.
“We have a growing number of customers who utilise prepayment for electricity, and we are excited to implement Itron’s network technology and prepayment solution to equip more customers to take advantage of prepayment in order to improve delivery, efficiency and reliability,” Adjamassouhon Wilfrid, project leader at SBEE said.
“By collaborating with SBEE, Itron will make prepaid electricity accessible to all of the utility’s users, while enabling them to reduce losses and gain greater awareness of its distribution system,” Babacar Diba, area vice president, Africa at Itron.
“By harnessing our software and hardware, SBEE will be able to realise outcomes that help modernise its electricity infrastructure enabling greater end-customer satisfaction.”
Norway Approves Conocophillips’ Tor 2 Development Plan
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has approved ConocoPhillips’ development plan for the Tor 2 oil field offshore Norway.
The Tor 2 project, located in the North Sea in the Greater Ekofisk Area, is a redevelopment of the Tor field, which was on production from 1978 through 2015. ConocoPhillips submitted its development plan in July.
The project plan envisions a two-by-four slot Subsea Production System (SPS) with eight production wells.
The SPS is planned to be connected to the Ekofisk Complex by multiphase production and lift gas pipelines to existing risers at the Ekofisk 2/4 M wellhead platform. Controls and utilities are provided through a service umbilical from the same existing platform.
The new greenfield facilities will be located approximately one kilometer west of the original Tor platform with no connection to the shut-in facilities.
Seven production wells are planned to be drilled in the Tor formation. In addition, a pilot well is planned to test long-term productivity in the Ekofisk formation. The resource potential for the Tor II project is in the range of 60-70 million barrels of oil equivalent.
“It is great to see that old fields can revive. Tor has already been in business for 37 years. Now a new development plan has been approved and it is ready for a “Tor comeback” in 2020. Through active efforts by the oil companies and technological advances, Tor II will create new jobs and large revenues for the community,” Oil and Energy Minister Kjell-Børge Freiberg said.
The total investment in the development is estimated at NOK 6.1 billion (USD 662,5 million). ConocoPhillips has said that the development concept has robust economics and a cost of supply below $30.
ConocoPhillips operates the project with a 30,66 per cent stake, Total owns 48,2 per cent, Vår Energi 10,82 per cent, Equinor 6,64 per cent, and Petoro 3,69 per cent.
Ivory Coast: Petroleum Ministry Invites Expression Of Interest For 5 Oil Blocks
The West African nation, Côte d’Ivoire, is offering five oil blocks to companies that wants to venture into the country’s oil and gas sector.
The Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy, Jean Baptiste Aka announced this during the just ended Africa Oil Week in Cape Town, South Africa.
“Today I have the honour on behalf of the Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy to officially release a request for Expressions of Interest (EOI) in five blocks located on the eastern side of the sedimentary basin,” he said.
The three new blocks, CI-800, CI-801 and CI-802, along with existing blocks CI-102 and CI-503, benefit from shallow waters, good geological data and are adjacent to existing discoveries and the proximity of infrastructures.
Although the bulk of the nation’s prospects are in shallow water of less than 200 metres water depth, since 2011, 47 exploration licences have been granted by Côte d’Ivoire including four blocks in water depths exceeding 3000 metres.
The Côte d’Ivoire sedimentary basin is a passive transform margin that lies along the west coast of Africa, from Liberia to Ghana. Oil and gas activities began in the late Fifties with the discovery of bituminious sands in the South eastern coastal basin. By the end of last year almost 70,000km of 2D seismic along with over 92,000km2 of 3D seismic had been acquired with 280 wells drilled.
Several oil and gas deposits have been discovered including Espoir, Baobab, Foxtrot, Marlin, Manta, Mahi. Lion and Panthere, with most of them now in production. This year’s average production is estimated to be around 34,800 bopd for crude oil and 208 mmcf/d for natural gas.
“On the part of the ministry in charge of petroleum and energy side, we want to capitalise on our geographic position and the quality of infrastructures to become the energy hub of the West African subregion.”
Aka continued that: “It is our plan that this position will cover all the value chain of the oil and gas industry from upstream exploration and production to downstream activities including the development of oil and gas infrastructures.
“For the upstream sector, intense exploration activities have been conducted during the past nine years with many exploration licenses being granted, large seismic data acquired, and many exploration wells drilled.”
“Today, in the country there are four producing blocks with an output of around 38,000 bopd of crude oil and 213 MMSCFD of natural gas, mainly consumed locally in power plants and with growing demand,” he added.
Benefitting from a stable regulatory and fiscal regime
Ambroise Niamien, technical advisor for hydrocarbons, at Côte d’Ivoire’s hydrocarbon directorate explained that the process for interested parties is clear and transparent. “We picked those five blocks for obvious reasons and companies are invited to come in, look at the data and express an interest in those blocks,” he said.
“Based on the feedback we get in the terms of proposals that are submitted we will decide the next course of action.
“For now, we are not talking about bidding. Within a couple of months of the conclusion of the expression on interest process we will decide what route to take. It may be to hold some further discussions depending on the interest in any given block. The first stage is to collect the interest of any operator that may be interested in those blocks. Each operator will have one day’s access to the data free of charge and if they want to proceed, they must express their interest. But we want to be flexible. This is a new approach for Côte d’Ivoire, we do not want to tie our hands in a bidding process.”
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: VRA Calls For Competitive Priced Electricity Tariff Regime
Ghana’s hydropower generation company, Volta River Authority, is calling for what it described as a competitive priced electricity tariff regime that incorporates financial compensation for its various ancillary services.
“We are of the considered opinion that the time has come for the mandated institutions to consider and incorporate the provision of ancillary services in the tariff methodology,” Mr. Kweku Andoh Awotwi who is the Board Chairman of VRA said at the Authority’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Awotwi explained that the issue of non-cost reflective tariff and inadequate liquidity, continued to affect the Company’s finances, adding, “It is our expectation that the Government will address these critical issues through its ongoing initiatives.”
Mr Awotwi said a key priority of the West African nation hydropower generator, was to collaborate with Government and other interested stakeholders to develop and convert their simple cycle plants into combined cycle operations.
The target plants include the Kpong Thermal Power Station and the Tema Thermal One Power Plant.
It also aims to transfer ownership of the T3 Power Plant to VRA to enable it to re-tool it and operate it in a combined cycle mode with a private sector partner.
Mr Awotwi said generation from their hydro sources increased marginally from 5,034GWh in 2017 to 5,044GWh, contributing 37 per cent to the National power generation.
“Though we could not achieve our thermal plant availability targets, we successfully restored the second unit of the Takoradi Thermal plant (32G2)making available to the system over 100 MW of power which has been unavailable due to prolonged maintenance activity”.
The Authority’s decision to operate on natural gas led to a 30.5 per cent increase in the use of the resource, he said, pointing out that the completion of the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection project would enhance the thermal operations in the Tema enclave.
He said the VRA had a commitment to expand its portfolio of renewable energy projects and was in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and the Nuclear Power Institute to support the development of Nuclear power in Ghana.
Chief Executive of the VRA, Ing. Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, said the Authority was on the path to financial sustainability and had since 2018 not received financial support from the Ministry of Finance.
“VRA is restructuring into a new era in 2021 and have put plans in place to ensure development in a sustainable manner, sustain our position as a market leader, improve operational and project implementation efficiencies, advance internal and external business processes and build, nurture and develop their human capital,” he said.
On his part, Chief Executive Officer at the State Interest in Governance Authority, (SIGA) Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, commended the VRA, saying, they had provided a very hopeful financial outlook.
“We are looking beyond the PDS/ECG era,” he said, and pledged SIGA’s support to the VRA’s transformational efforts.