Petroleum Tanker Drivers in the Republic of Ghana have given a 48-hour ultimatum to President Nana Akufo-Addo to relieve the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli, of his post.
According to the National Union of the Tanker Drivers, the head of the downstream regulator has failed to address some grievances which continue to affect their operations.
Addressing a press conference in Tema on Monday, October 19, 2020, National Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Union, George T. Nyaunu chronicled a number of grievances which the NPA has failed to address.
He mentioned the harassment of drivers at check points by Western and Central Regional police officers, closing down of 86 gas filling outlets which have legal licences to operate, non-compliance of transit losses and refusal of the depot operators to abide by the 20 degree Celsius loading temperatures, non-compliance of 2017 Memorandum of Understanding signed by stakeholders on drivers and mates condition of service, as well as the NPA’s inability to ensure that drivers get their portion of the benefit of Covid-19 fund to essential or front line workers.
Mr. Nyaunu accused Mr. Tampuli of treating drivers unfairly by not making sure that drivers get a fair playing field as stakeholders in the downstream sector.
“Mr. Tampuli has not been helpful. Maybe, the position is bigger than him. Police officers have been beating and slapping drivers. We have complained to NPA. Meetings have been held on the issue yet the situation is the same,” he told energynewsafrica.com.
According to Mr Nyaunu, if President Akufo-Addo fails to act by sacking the NPA CEO or get their issues resolved, they would have no other option than embark on nationwide strike action.
“We are hoping for a favourable response from the President and NPA following which we will shall advise ourselves on our next line of action,” he stated.
Energynewsafrica.com could not reach the CEO of NPA on the telephone, however, Head of Corporate Communications of NPA, Anny Osabutey indicated that the Authority was preparing an official response to the claims made by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Union.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The leader of Ghana’s largest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama says the next NDC administration will establish a coal fired power plant at Ekumfi Otuam in the Central Region if he is elected as the next person on December 7, 2020, when Ghanaians go to the polls.
Ahead of that, both the incumbent President and the leader of the opposition party are traveling around the country to reach the electorate with their campaign messages.
Addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of Ekumfi Otuam on the second day of a four-day tour of the Central Region, Mr Mahama said the coal fired power plant which would have a generation capacity of 2,000 megawatt (MW), will augment the country’s hydro, thermal and solar sources of power generation significantly.
He said after a series of feasibility studies, Otuam, the hometown of the late President John Evans Atta Mills, has been identified as a potential site for the project.
“We identified a number of possible places where we can build this project. We started from the West down to the East, trying to get a possible location around the coast to put up the infrastructure.
“One of the potential sites is Otuam, the hometown of our late President Atta Mills,” Ghana News Agency quoted Mr Mahama as saying.
Coal-fired plants produce electricity by burning coal in a boiler to produce steam under great pressure. The energy produced from coal is cheaper, abundant and more affordable than that from other sources.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Namibia is planning to build five photovoltaic solar power plants (25MWp) in the municipality of Windhoek.
This is part of the effort of the Namibian government to boost electricity supply in the area.
The solar project, which will be carried out under public-private partnerships (PPPs), is expected to cost N$420 million, i.e. nearly US$25.5 million.
The plants will be built on the southern borders of Cimbebasia, along the B1 road to Rehoboth.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Chief Executive Officer of J.K Horgle Transport and Company Ltd, a petroleum haulage transportation company in the Republic of Ghana, has been nominated for ‘Petroleum CEO of The Year Award’ at the Ghana Energy Awards scheduled for October 30, 2020.
The awards, scheduled to be held at the plush Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, in Accra, capital of Ghana, will have other CEOs of petroleum institutions such as CEO of GOIL, Kwame Osei Prempeh, CEO of Petrosol Michael Bozumbil, CEO of Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) Senyo Hosi, CEO of Ghana Gas, Dr. Ben K.D Asante, and CEO of Rigworld Group, Kofi Amoa-Abban, battling for the same award.
It will be held under the theme: ‘Excelling In Crisis: The Energy Sector In A Covid-19 Era’.
Kwame Osei Prempeh, Managing Director and Group CEO of GOIL
Mr. J.K Horgle has been in the petroleum haulage transportation business for over 40 years.
Besides his company winning some awards, Mr. Horgle has personally won several industry awards both home and abroad.
In an interview with energynewsafrica.com recently, J.K Horgle said his company retained about 700 workers despite the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic which affected business activities globally.
He indicated that his company decided to maintain all the staff for a good reason.
“On our side, we train our drivers and we spend huge sums of money in training them, especially female tanker drivers. We can’t give them all this training and ask them to go home. We will lose. People even try to poach our drivers because they are well trained,” he said.
Senyo Hosi, CEO of Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD)Dr. Ben K. D Asante, CEO Of Ghana National Gas Company, Republic of GhanaMichael Bozumbil, CEO of PetrosolSource:www.energynewsafrica.com
There is no doubt that Somalia has become a significantly more attractive prospect since the signing of the country’s Petroleum Law and Revenue Sharing Agreement earlier this year. With seven blocks on offer, the round, set to conclude in March 2021, presents Operators with the opportunity to enter one of the last truly frontier passive margins in the world.
At Africa Oil Week Virtual Conference, Mr. Ibrahim Ali Hussein outlined the role of the newly formed Somali Petroleum Authority, explaining how the independent body will work inclusively with States and the Federal Government to “apply the principles of openness, accountability, transparency and non-discrimination in procedures and systems”.
The SPA has since appointed six directors, each from a different state (Banadir Regional Authority, Hirshabelle State, Galmudug State, South West State, Jubaland State and Somaliland State). This is in line with the above-mentioned revenue sharing agreement, which divides any funds between the various parts of the country.
Mr Hussein was joined by Dr Alessio Checconi, Senior Business Development Manager for Africa and the Middle East at TGS, who were a partner organisation for the session and are currently working closely with the SPA and Somali Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources. Dr Checconi gave a below-ground overview of the seven blocks on offer, adding “If I were to pick just one block, I would look at the central and Southern blocks”.
Scot Fraser of Ventura International Energy, who joined the session to provide insight into fiscal benchmarking based on his proprietary research, added that “the more wells the better. The companies that are bidding need to be active in order for the industry to be sustainable. One well in a block will probably condemn the potential of the basin […] There are a variety of different plays and the blocks are large, so any campaign that allows you to mitigate some of those risks and separate the dependencies is clearly going to be to the advantage of announcing that first commercial opportunity.”
A primary concern when considering investment in a historically unstable region like Somalia is, of course, security. Phil McDonald, former Royal Marine Commando and current Regional Director for Africa at Castor Vali was on hand to offer a frank analysis of above-ground risk in the region. According to McDonald, though onshore risks from Al-Shabab and Islamic State remain significant, offshore pirate attacks have decreased exponentially, from a high of 160 reported attacks in 2011, to just one this year. McDonald commented “I have no evidence or reason to see a return to prominence [of piracy] or a spike as it was five years ago […] however the risk is still there and that illustrates the need for robust security mitigation measures”.
Overall, the “Somalia Licensing Round: Derisking Above Ground Factors” section at AOW Virtual shone the spotlight on a region that is not frequently discussed in terms of hydrocarbon investment, highlighting multiple areas of interest.
To learn more about insurgents, minefields and election standoffs in Somalia, a report created in collaboration between AOW and Castor Vali is available here: https://bit.ly/3lQwDyw.
To view the full recordings of sessions at AOW Virtual, go to www.Africa-OilWeek.com/Page/webinars. Content is CPD-certified, and completely free to access.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Petroleum Commission, Egbert Isaac Faibille, has implored upstream regulators in Africa to put in place measures that would ensure that citizens benefit from the oil and gas resources.
Speaking during a webinar to mark five years of Uganda’s oil and gas exploration on Thursday, Mr Faibille indicated that his outfit and Ugandan counterpart have a big responsibility to ensure that their citizens benefit from the oil and gas exploration.
“It is worthy to note that in not too distant past, many rich oil and gas countries were unable to utilise their resources to the benefit of their citizens,” he observed.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Enhancement of socioeconomic benefits for a new petroleum production country’, Mr Faibille was of the view that efficient regulations, enhanced revenue generation in the sector plus job creation for Ghanaians and Ugandans were crucial.
Additionally, he urged leveraging oil and gas resources to engender socio-economic growth for the two countries, as well as strict adherence to environmental best practices and good governance culture to be undertaken in the sector.
The Executive Director of the National Planning Authority of Uganda, Dr Joseph Muvawala said Uganda had put in place strong regulatory and implementation regimes to ensure efficient utilisation of oil and gas resources in the country.
“National participation is key in the supply of oil and gas services in the sector by Ugandans to achieve value creation and retention in the country. It was 28% in 2017 to 33% in 2018,” he said.
According to him, 72 percent was recorded in the value creation chain in 2019, out of which 81 percent Ugandans were employed in the oil and gas sector.
Dr Muvawala also assured of avowed commitment to further increase capacity for his people and utilise funds from the sector to better their living conditions.
Another good thing helping to ensure efficient operation in the oil and gas sector in Uganda, he identified was a strategic data management system called ‘The Crane data base’.
He added that it was over 20,000 gigabites of data and helps in monitoring on and off field exploration processes.
So far, he mentioned that $3.5 billion has been invested in the oil and gas sector and hoped that an estimated $15 billion would put in the area.
The Director General of Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Ms Ingrid Solvberg said what had sustained the oil and gas sector of her country were strict adherence to administrative and regulative compliance over the years.
Speaking via a webinar under the theme: ‘Regulatory Excellence in the Oil and Gas sector’, she said: “In Norway, the Ministry concentrates on planning while the directorate concentrates on implementation and other functions to make the sector viable.”
According to her, Norway has a strict work cut-out for ministry responsible for the sector, which concentrates on efficient planning, while the directorate focuses on implementation and other auxiliary functions to make the oil and gas sector effective.
Ms Solvberg urged African countries to work hard and eschew all acts that negate good corporate governance culture from the sector in order to reap effectively from the oil and gas resources.
Touching of how to prepare ahead of post oil and gas to benefit the African continent, the Norwegian Petroleum Director General advised that, strategic measures are taken swiftly to drift towards renewable energy resource in order to cushion the continents economy in future, just as her country is doing.
Commenting on steps to stem environmental problems from explorations from oil and gas, she said measures have been crafted to ensure societal safety and companies in the sector are mandated to operate efficiently to reduce C02 emissions during production.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
South Africa is considering the establishment of a new crude oil refinery to help stem the importation of petroleum products.
Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Matashe, who disclosed this, is of the view that the new oil refinery will help to revamp the country’s ailing economy.
“South Africa needs a new crude refinery. The scale of petroluem product export and the existing capacity in our refineries make it necessary,” he stressed.
South Africa has six oil refineries, and it is the 10th largest oil producer in Africa and 41st in the world.
The country spends huge sums of money to import crude oil and refined products.
Delivering a speech at the opening of Africa Oil Week 2020 Virtual Conference, he said: “The energy sector is a catalyst for economic growth, hence, the prioritisation of supply of affordable and reliable energy was crucial to fast-track development.”
Mr Matashe was of the view that since the groups’ meeting in 2019, South Africa has published the Petroluem Resources Development Bill seeking public comment, in order to finalise the Bill.
“An immediate positive result of separating oil and gas from the mining legislation by Total. The company has, again, this year, brought another oil and gas drilling rig for the liquified prospect in Block 11/12B off the Mossel Bay coast.
According to him, the drilling was expected to be from one hundred and eighty to three hundred (180 to 300 days, with an estimated local currency of one and half billion Rand (R1.5 billion) to benefit various local companies.
“We are obviously thrilled with the confidence shown by Total in our Government and our country and hope for even a bigger find of oil this time round,” he said.
The Government of Ghana has settled the prolonged inter utility legacy debt (worth USD$203M) component of the power sector debt within the energy sector accrued by the end of 2016 involving both state-owned corporations and Independent Power Producer, Sunon Asogli Power Ghana Ltd.
This settlement has led to the clearing of debts Sunon Asogli owed to gas suppliers, thereby, making the power producer’s credit status a bit better.
“The settlement of this debt has contributed to improving the credit rating of the various organisations within the energy sector seeking for credit facilities from both domestic and international banks. It has, further, reduced the indebtedness of government, Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG), Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana National Gas Company Limited (GNGC) and Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited, making their books much better than before,” Sunon Asogli said in a statement copied to energynewsafrica.com.
The debt affected the operational and financial performance of all parties involved within the power supply chain.
“It became very difficult for the private sector organisation to obtain financial support to sustain its business operation, commitment to future investments and also affected our shareholders confidence,” the statement said.
“We will continue to collaborate with all the parties within the energy sector and the
Government in sustaining and meeting the electric power demand in Ghana,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Bulk Consumers and Distributors (CIPDiB), which welcomed the development, encouraged the government to prioritise settling the outstanding debts to the IPPs to ensure continuous power supply.
According to a statement issued by CIPDiB and signed by its CEO, Elikplim Apetorgbor, the settlement of the $203 million debts have reduced the collective receivables in favour of the IPPs to about USD$1.2 billion.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
India’s Oil Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan says the country is treading very cautiously in its plan to privatise the state-run oil refinery, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd.
India’s plan to sell its 53.29 percent stake in BPCL was first announced in November 2019, and is part of a broader programme to spin off or sell stakes in dozens of state-owned companies.
India had planned to sell the stake by the end of the fiscal year to March 2021.
“Bharat Petroleum divestment is very much on the card,” Pradhan said during a virtual energy conference.
“But, we all will appreciate looking into the net worth and looking into the size…the government is treading very cautiously (on) how to offload (the stake) through (a) proper process,” he explained.
BPCL’s shares have tumbled by about 38 percent from highs seen in November last year as fuel demand in India has been hit by restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
India’s demand for refined products is expected to rise, requiring a 40 percent increase in the country’s refining capacity to 350 million tonnes a year or seven million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030, Mr Pradhan said.
India plans to build a 1.2 million bpd refinery and petrochemical plant on the country’s West coast through a joint venture made up of Indian state refiners, Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
But, the project has been held up as the joint venture has not yet acquired land after protests from farmers.
Mr Pradhan said the local issues impacting the project would be sorted out “very soon.”
The Minister also said that the Federal Government planned to gradually end the subsidy on cooking gas.
Nigeria has raked in some N2.41 trillion in earnings from its oil and gas in the first half of 2020.
This represents 8.7 percent below the N2.63 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019.
This brings the country’s total earnings from its mainstay of revenue in the past five years (2015-2019) to N24.1 trillion.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, oil revenue in the first six months of 2020 accounted for 59.7 percent of gross federally-collected revenue of N4.03 trillion recorded in the same period.
Month-on-month basis report explained that in January, February, March, April, May and June 2020, N527.18 billion, N405.33 billion, N454.34 billion, N284.04 billion and N281.97 billion were raked in respectively.
Despite the challenging global economic headwinds, Nigeria earned N21.71 trillion from the oil and gas industry in five years, from 2015 to 2019.
The revenue from the oil and gas sector comprised earnings from crude oil and gas exports, Petroleum Profit Tax, PPT, royalties and domestic crude oil sales.
Oil earnings from 2015 to 2019 represented 60.25 percent of the combined budget figure for the same period.
The average price of crude oil, which is one of the major drivers of the earnings for the five-year period, 2015 to 2019, was $55.32 per barrel, but the 2020 average has since dropped to $38.
Giving a breakdown of the country’s oil earnings, the reports revealed that N3.83 trillion, N2.69 trillion, N4.1 trillion, N5.55 trillion and N5.54 trillion were recorded as oil revenue in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s second largest state power generation company, Bui Power Authority (BPA), Fred Oware, has been nominated for two awards at the Ghana Energy Awards scheduled for October 30, 2020.
Mr Oware has been nominated for the Energy Personality of the Year award, as well as the CEO of the Year, for the power sector category.
The Bui Power Authority, which Mr Oware heads, has also been nominated for four categories of award.
The Authority has been nominated for Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year, Excellence in Power Generation, Clean Energy Institution of the Year and Renewable Energy.
Early this year, BPA cut sod for the construction of 50MW solar power plant at Bui in the Savannah Region.
The 50MW solar power park, which is situated on 200 acres of land (equivalent of 151 football pitch), is in two phases.
Energynewsafrica.com understands the first phase, which is more than 10MW, has been completed and is expected to be commissioned next month.
South Africa’s Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe says his country is positioning itself as a serious player in the global gas market.
In this regard, Mr. Mantashe said a Gas Amendment Bill will be tabled in Parliament, in line with the appropriate legislative process.
The Bill aims to, among others, attract infrastructure investment for LNG imports, increase exploration, create domestic gas feedstock, diversify the energy mix and reduce carbon emissions.
Gwede Mantashe disclosed this at the opening of the Africa Oil Week 2020 Conference which was held virtual in Cape Town, South Africa, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We will promote the development of a domestic regional gas market. We continue to advance our gas to power projects with Coega Special Econonic Zone (SEZ) identified as the first Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) import terminal. This lays a foundation for gas to power plants and converting existing power plants from diesel to gas,” he observed.
Present and future gas discoveries in South Africa, the Minister mentioned, should find their way to their power plants and other petrochemical facilities.
This, he maintained, would reduce the importation of beneficiated hydrocarbons.
To this end, he noted that a technical working group that would produce a commercial business plan for the development of the LNG import-export facilities across various ports of South Africa has been established.
Liquified Petroluem Gas (LPG), the South African Minerals Resources and Energy Minister opined, is an efficient form of energy for cooking, space heating and water heating, yet its contribution remains to be below par.
He added: “Integral to LPG Expansion Initiative, we have targetted to double LPG consumption over the next five years. Also, we will localise the manufacturing of gas cylinders and appliances.”
He also mentioned that the South African 2020 Gas Master Plan was being developed, explaining that it would consolidate their participation in the development of the SADC Regional Master Plan aimed at strengthening regional co-operation in the creation of a regional gas market.
“Against this backdrop, the military insurgency in the gas rich part of Mozambique concerns us. A solution to bring stability in the affected areas must be found urgently,” he further stated.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Lawra Municipal Hospital and the Municipal Police Command, as well as the Lawra Paramount Chief’s Palace in the Upper West Region of the Republic of Ghana will soon be installed with rooftop solar system.
The Municipal Hospital will have a 45kWp solar rooftop system, with the Municipal Police command having 15kWp solar rooftop.
The Lawra Chief’s Palace will be have an installation of 17.5kWp standalone solar rooftop system.
This will be done by Ghana’s largest power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA), in partnership with Spanish Electrical company, Elecnor S.A.
The Board Chairman of VRA, Kweku Andoh Awotwi, who disclosed this during the commissioning of 6.54MWp solar power plant in Lawra in the Upper West Region, explained that the initiative formed part of the VRA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to give back to the people in the Upper West.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s utilities regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has commissioned energy test meter laboratory at its head office in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The laboratory, which cost the Commission some $150,000, is equipped with state-of-the-art stationary reference meter test bench which can test up to five electricity meters simultaneously.
The facility has the capacity to test both single and three-phase meters.
Speaking at the commissioning of the facility, Executive Secretary of PURC, Mrs Mami Dufie Ofori said the energy test meter laboratory would help the Commission to improve on its monitoring of quality of service and also assess the integrity of meters used by regulated electric utilities.
She added that it would help the Commission to conduct insulation resistance test, high voltage test, creep/no load test, meter constant test, meter accuracy test, voltage variation test, frequency variation test and repeatability test.
Mrs Dufie Ofori, who recounted the difficulties the Commission had to go through using portable meter test equipment to undertake regulatory functions of resolving complaints bordering on meter accuracies and billing, expressed confidence that with the new laboratory, the Commission would be able to resolve such complaints promptly.
“It will ensure that energy meters being used by regulated utilities are efficient and fall within appropriate accuracy limit. Furthermore, it will enable the Commission to carry out random meter sampling tests and assert its independence and impartiality in carrying out its regulated functions.”
She commended the contractor, Alpha TND, an Indian company, for working hard despite the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the project was completed.
Alpha TND Ltd is one of the leading product & solution providers in Power Transmission & Distribution Sector with its firm footprints in West Africa.
Alpha TND is an ISO certified company and has executed meter testing facility for ECG and NEDCo in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
“Mr. Tampuli has not been helpful. Maybe, the position is bigger than him. Police officers have been beating and slapping drivers. We have complained to NPA. Meetings have been held on the issue yet the situation is the same,” he told energynewsafrica.com.
According to Mr Nyaunu, if President Akufo-Addo fails to act by sacking the NPA CEO or get their issues resolved, they would have no other option than embark on nationwide strike action.
“We are hoping for a favourable response from the President and NPA following which we will shall advise ourselves on our next line of action,” he stated.
Energynewsafrica.com could not reach the CEO of NPA on the telephone, however, Head of Corporate Communications of NPA, Anny Osabutey indicated that the Authority was preparing an official response to the claims made by the Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Union.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
“It will ensure that energy meters being used by regulated utilities are efficient and fall within appropriate accuracy limit. Furthermore, it will enable the Commission to carry out random meter sampling tests and assert its independence and impartiality in carrying out its regulated functions.”
She commended the contractor, Alpha TND, an Indian company, for working hard despite the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the project was completed.
Alpha TND Ltd is one of the leading product & solution providers in Power Transmission & Distribution Sector with its firm footprints in West Africa.
Alpha TND is an ISO certified company and has executed meter testing facility for ECG and NEDCo in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com