Ghana: Gov’t Plans To Clear Outstanding Legacy Debts To BDCs By End Of 2019, After Paying US$929M
The Government of Ghana is planning to clear all the legacy debts owned the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies by the end of 2019.
So far, government has paid about US$929.58 million between 2011 and 2019.
Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mr Alhassan Tampuli, who revealed this at the launching of the 2018 Industry Report prepared by the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), described the development as commendable.
“There was progress made on government’s legacy debt to BDCs with the payment of all outstanding principal sums (USD427.11mn) and the validation of the interest components.
This brings to total an amount of USD806.25mn in subsidies incurred by government through its subsidy policy between 2011 and 2015.
“A total of USD929.58mn has been paid between 2011 and September 2019 with a total of USD52.62mn outstanding and expected to be paid by end of 2019, ” Mr Alhassan Tampuli explained on Tuesday, during the launch of the 2018 Industry Report prepared by the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD).
Growth
Touching on how the downstream subsector has performed over the past two years, Mr Alhassan Tampuli noted that the annual growth in consumption of petroleum products reduced by 9 percent in 2016, increased by 6 percent in 2017 and reached its highest so far in 2018. 2018 saw a 15 percent growth in consumption from 3.4 million Mt in 2017 to 3.9 million Mt in 2018.
This, he said, rode on the back of successes realised in the fight against the illicit petroleum trade, thereby increasing official demand for gasoline, gasoil and LPG.
“This volume of consumption is the highest observed to date and it bears eloquent testimony of significant occurrence of economic activities anchored on the enabling environment provided by the government through deliberate policy initiatives aimed at propelling the private sector growth, since petroleum drives economic activities. It is also a testament of significant successes in the NPA’s efforts towards curbing illicit fuel activities in the country,” he said.
Fuel Adulteration
On fuel adulteration, Mr Alhassan Tampuli said his outfit was aware that petroleum products that did not meet national specifications were not allowed entry into the market by the NPA.
However, he said as a result of smuggling and dumping of petroleum products meant for export onto the market in recent years, the petroleum product marking scheme recorded high failure rates in 2016 and 2017.
Specifically, the recorded failure rate among retail stations averaged 6.20 percent and 4.91 percent in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
“It is gratifying to note that, our stringent measures in tackling fuel smuggling among others, have been successful as failure rate declined to less than one percent in 2018.”
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Chamber Of Bulk Oil Distributors Outdoors 2018 Industry Report
The Chief Director at Ghana’s Ministry of Energy Mr Lawrence Apaalse has launched the 2018 Industry Report which was prepared by the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD).
Among the key issues highlighted in the report include fuel quality policy, license rationalization, health safety security and environment policy, Ghanaian content and Ghanaian participation policy.
The report also talks about steps taken by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to address fuel smuggling in the downstream petroleum sector.
On the issue of the Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) policy intervention, the report projects disruption in the gas market structure.
“The report anticipates the likelihood of an upward pressure on pre-tax prices of LPG and disruptions in the marketing and retailing structure of the LPG industry. It also projects significant disruptions in the retail market structure for LPG. The LPG Marketing Companies’ (LPGMCs) dominance of the market (62% share) is expected to be threatened by the more consumer-friendly Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) (38% share), which are generally more accessible by virtue of their location, and significantly out-number the LPG outlets by a ratio of about 5:1.”
Again, the report also calls on LPGMCs to invest in consumer-friendly outlets which are likely to improve their businesses. “It may be necessary that LPGMCs swiftly invest in multiple consumer-friendly outlets, like self-service propane outlets in the US, which are operated at supermarkets, and develop a delivery-to-consumer option to stand a fighting chance of maintaining their market share.”
The report also commends the government for the payment of legacy debts to the BDCs.
“There was progress made on government’s legacy debt to BDCs with the payment of all outstanding principal sums (US$427.11 million) and the validation of the interest components. This brings to total an amount of US$806.25 million in subsidies incurred by government through its subsidy policy between 2011 and 2015. A total of US$929.58 million has been paid between 2011 and September 2019, with a total of US$52.62 million outstanding and expected to be paid by year end 2019. The total haircut accepted by BDCs amounts to US$432 million.”
The African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) contributed to the report
Ghana: GH¢2.7Billion Lost To Taxes, Margins In Petroleum Downstream Sector
Ghana lost GH¢2.7 billion in taxes and regulatory margins in the petroleum downstream sector from 2015 to 2018, the latest report on activities in the downstream petroleum sub-sector has indicated.
According to graphic.com.gh, the report which was prepared by the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), showed that the country lost GH¢2,559.08 million in taxes and evaded the regulatory margin of GH¢231.53 million within the three-year period.
“For the period 2015 to 2018, total taxes evaded based on official unaccounted stocks stand at GH¢1,390.73 million, while total under-reported taxes based on official unaccounted sale volume after adjustments for exemptions stand at GH¢1,168.33 million,” it added.
Illicit trade
Speaking at the launch of the 2018 Industry Report, Chief Executive Officer of the CBOD, Mr Senyo K. Hosi, said petroleum tax revenue increased on the back of reduced illegal trade, which reflected in an increase in official volumes, saying the under-reporting of taxes on official sales was GH¢433.75 million in 2018.
The report reviewed the policy, finance, market and infrastructure sectors and issues related to the period under review. It also shared an outlook and recommendations on the downstream market and its happenings.
Mr. Hosi said the fight against illicit trade in refined petroleum products was yielding results, leading to the country saving nearly GH¢1 billion, which would have otherwise been lost through smuggling.
He said about GH¢952 million was also saved from blocking the sale of illicit petroleum products in the country in 2018, a result of the interventions by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to curb illicit trade in petroleum products.
According to him, a reconciliation of the official national petroleum stocks movement data revealed that 54.36 million litres, 168.48 litres and 794.75 million litres could not be accounted for in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.
“The associated petroleum tax revenue evasion to these stocks stands at GH¢1,438.75 million, while the associated evaded regulatory margins amount to GH¢238.96 million,” he added.
National consumption
On national consumption of petroleum products, Mr Hosi said it was about 3.88 million tonnes in 2018, 12.3 per cent higher than the 2017 consumption of 3.46mt.
A total of 3.73 million tonnes was consumed by the non-power sector, representing 83 per cent of gross consumption, while 738,076 million tonnes (17 per cent) was consumed by the power sector as fuel for power plants, crude for power and propane.
Out of the 165 registered oil marketing companies (OMCs) and LPG marketing companies (LPGMCs) in 2018, he said, 14 were active, 63 sold products above 10,000 million tonnes, while 88 sold volumes below 10,000 million tonnes.
Source:graphic.com.gh
Ghana: Bawumia Justifies 5.94 Percent Increment In Electricity Tariff
Ghana’s vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has rejected claims by the country’s opposition party that the Akufo-Addo Government is, contrary to its promise while in opposition, increasing electricity tariffs rather than reducing them.
Speaking at the launch of four initiatives by the Youth Employment Agency in the West Africa, Dr Bawumia insisted that available records do not support the claim by the opposition NDC, saying a comparative analysis of the records would clearly show which party has burdened Ghanaians with high electricity tariffs.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) announced a 5.94 per cent increase in electricity tariffs on Monday 30th September, 2019, barely three months it announced 11.17 percent increment.
In a statement signed by the Executive Secretary, Mami Dufie Ofori and copied to energynewsafrica.com Monday, the PURC explained that the increase in tariffs was determined by the Automatic Adjustment Formula (AAF) which considers eight factors including Ghana cedi-US dollar exchange rate, inflation, price of crude oil and natural gas and fuel mix (Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Distillate Fuel).
Other factors are generation mix (Hydro and Thermal), power purchase cost, demand forecast and electricity cost (A major cost component in water production).
However, the opposition party claimed that Government had mismanaged the electricity sector, hence the “unprecedented” increase.
But the Vice President maintained that the Nana Akufo-Addo government had kept faith with Ghanaians and had for the first time in Ghana’s history, cumulatively reduced tariffs since assuming office on January 7, 2017.
“You would have heard that the PURC has increased electricity tariffs by 5.94 percent. It is very important for us to have some perspective on this, because electricity has a bearing on the cost of doing business and you have to be having your eye on it so that we don’t overburden businesses.
“What was the situation before we came into office? I’ll give you a background. In 2010 the average increase in electricity was 89 per cent; 2011 was 10 per cent; 2013 was 78 per cent; 2014 was 28.3 per cent; 2015 was 59.2 per cent. Between 2013 and 2016, just the last four years of the NDC government, the cumulative increase in electricity tariff was cumulatively 166 percent.
“It is against that background that we said ‘this is not good for job creation’. If you want to create jobs you have to reduce the burden of electricity tariffs on our people. And this is why when we came in – and it had never been done before – that we reduced electricity prices for businesses by 30 per cent and for households by 17.5 per cent; average of around 22 per cent in 2018.
“Notwithstanding that, earlier this year in July there was an increase in electricity prices of 11 per cent and yesterday of 5.6 per cent. When you take the total cumulative increase on average, between 2017 and today you have a cumulative decrease of about 5 per cent.
“The NDC in their last four years increased tariffs by 166 per cent; increase. We have come down since we’ve been in government by about 5 per cent. So it is still ‘boot-for-charlie wote’ when you come to electricity tariffs.”
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: War Against Fuel Smuggling Resulted In Saving Nearly GH¢1bn In 2018
Ghana’s fight against illicit trading of refined petroleum products has yielded results, with the latest report on the activities in the downstream petroleum subsector showing that the West African country saved nearly GH¢1 billion, which would have otherwise been lost through smuggling of the products.
The 2018 Industry Report which was prepared by the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) showed that GH¢952 million was saved from blocking the sale of illicit sale of petroleum products in the country in 2018.
This was a reversal from the losses made in the last three years – 2015 to 2017- through unaccounted stock and evasion of taxes.
The savings was as a result of interventions by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to curb the illicit trade of petroleum products and ensure that it was sold through official channels, the annual report of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) has said.
“In 2018, no loss related to unaccounted stocks is estimated as it was revealed that 574.25 million litres more than the official stocks saleable in the country were sold. This indicates that smuggled stocks in the monitored depots must have been trapped as a result of the NPA’s regulatory interventions to curb the illicit trade of petroleum products and forced to be sold through official channels.
“This saved the nation GH¢797.49 million in taxes and GH¢154.93 million in regulatory margins yielding a total savings of GH¢952.42 million,”graphic.com.gh quoted the 2018 Industry Report as saying.
According to the report, the NPA, aided by elements of the central government made progress towards tackling the challenges of smuggling and tax evasion some of which were covered in the 2017 CBOD industry report.
“This was a welcome move in the industry and yielded tangible results even though there remains a lot to be done to bring sustainable finality to the illegal trade,” the report stated.
The report further explained the interventions by the NPA minimised the evasion of official channels of distributions and, hence, an increase in official volumes of the most tax-evaded products, AGO regular and PMS, which shot up by 17 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.
Losses
A reconciliation of official national stocks movement data revealed that 54.36mn litres, 168.48mn litres and 794.75 million litres could not be accounted for in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Also, the associated petroleum tax revenue evasion to these stocks stood at GH¢1.4 billion while the associated evaded regulatory margins amounted to GH¢238.96 million.
For the period 2015 to 2018, total taxes evaded based on official unaccounted stocks stood at GH¢1.3 billion while total under-reported taxes based on official accounted sale volume after adjustments for exemptions stands at GH¢1.2 billion.
“This implies that the country has lost a total of GH¢2.6 billion in taxes for the period. Combined with the evaded regulatory margin of GH¢231.53 million, a total GH¢2.790.59 million has been lost to the nation in taxes and regulatory margins for the period 2015 to 2018,” it stated.
Although the petroleum tax revenue increased on the back of reduced illegal trades which reflected in an increase in official volumes, under reporting of taxes on official sales by GH¢433.75 million in 2018 after adjusting for tax exemptions and waivers was not eliminated.
Gross consumption
Ghana’s gross national consumption reached 4.46 million metric tonnes (mt) in 2018. A total of 3.73mn mt was consumed by the non-power sector representing 83 per cent of gross consumption while 738,076 mt (17%) was consumed by the power sector as fuel oil for power plants, crude for power and propane.
Petroleum products consumption in 2018 was about 3.88mn mt, 12.3 per cent higher than 2017 consumption of 3.46mn mt.
“This rode on the back of successes realised in the fight against the illicit petroleum trade, thereby increasing official demand for gasoline, gasoil and LPG. This volume of consumption is the highest observed to date,” it said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Equinor Awards ‘First Ever Service Contract For Subsea Drones In Oil & Gas’
Norway’s Equinor has awarded Italy’s Saipem a subsea service contract which entails using a wireless underwater intervention drone and an ROV on the Njord field located offshore Norway, Offshoreenergytoday. com has reported.
The contract will make Equinor the first user of technology expected to be completed in 2020, Equinor said on Wednesday
“This is a historic contract in the oil and gas industry. It is the first contract signed for the use of advanced wireless drone services. We are pleased to secure a contract that will bring subsea technology a big step forward. Equinor aims to help shape the development of this type of technology, which this contact underscores,” Anders Opedal, executive vice president, Technology, Projects & Drilling said
The services from Saipem Limited Norway Branch will be employed when the Njord field resumes production in 2020. Lasting for ten years, the contract has five two-year options for additional extension. The value of the fixed part of the contact is estimated at about EUR 40 million ($43.6M). The contact lays down requirements for permanent presence in Norway and Norwegian-speaking personnel.
The new technology employs an underwater intervention drone (Hydrone-R) and an all-electric work class ROV (Hydrone-W). The drone may be autonomous below Njord for months between scheduled maintenance, whereas Hydrone-W will be connected to the platform like a traditional ROV. Both are electric and can be operated without a surface vessel.
The use of this technology will therefore contribute to significant carbon reduction, according to Equinor. In addition, the response time will be reduced. Furthermore, the operations will not be dependent on weather conditions.
“It is very exciting to be a pioneer for this type of technology offshore. Enabling personnel to plan and perform operations from shore rather than being flown offshore, this path-breaking technology will also reduce costs,” Olav A. Godø, operations manager, Njord said.
Equinor’s proprietary docking station for data transmission and subsea induction charging will be installed below Njord and used by the underwater drone.
In a separate statement on Wednesday, Saipem said that the agreement with Equinor is the first ever worldwide service contract for subsea drones signed in the offshore oil & gas industry, thus making the Hydrone-based technology an unrivaled pioneer.
Hydrone-R operations will start from 1Q 2020, immediately following completion of the endurance tests currently underway, while Hydrone-W will be delivered in 2021.
Francesco Racheli, COO of Saipem’s E&C Offshore Division, said: “Today, we are making the history of subsea robotics: our visionary Hydrone program, launched back in 2015, has proven to perfectly match Equinor’s challenging requirements. Cooperation with one of the key players in the energy market by delivering our top-notch technology in the years to come is a very significant milestone for us.”
Putin May Meet With Exxon’s Chief Executive This Week
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is likely to meet the Chief Executive of U.S. oil supermajor ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, on the sidelines of an energy conference in Moscow this week, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said on Tuesday.
According to the spokesman for the Russian president, the Kremlin hopes that Putin could discuss energy issues with Woods on the sidelines of the forum on Wednesday.
Woods, as well as BP’s Chief Executive Bob Dudley, are slated to speak at the ‘Russian energy week’ forum today (Wednesday) in a panel that will also include a speech from OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo.
Ministers from OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia’s new energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, will also take part in the conference.
Putin plans to meet with OPEC’s Barkindo to discuss the cooperation between Russia and OPEC, including the production cut deal that has been in place since the beginning of 2017, Kremlin’s Peskov said last week, as carried by Russian media.
The Russian president has also planned a short meeting with Exxon’s Woods to discuss prospects of potential projects with Exxon’s participation in Russia, local media reported on Friday.
Woods and BP’s Dudley will make the trip to Russia after the relations between the West and Moscow began to strain in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and incurred western sanctions on some of its oil companies and on buying western equipment for developing projects in the Arctic, for example.
Following the U.S. sanctions on Russia, Exxon withdrew from most of its joint oil and gas exploration activities with Russia’s state-controlled oil giant Rosneft, giving in to the pressure of U.S. and EU sanctions against Russia’s energy industry. The decision, Exxon said in 2018, was made in 2017, after Washington imposed additional sanctions on Russia for its alleged involvement in the 2016 presidential elections.
BP, for its part, owns 19.75 percent in Rosneft and nominates two representatives to Rosneft’s Board of Directors: CEO Dudley and Guillermo Quintero, former BP President for Latin America.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Electricity Coverage Reaches 85%
The Republic of Ghana has achieved about 85 percent electricity coverage, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, Ing. Jonathan Amoako-Baah has said.
Although the 85 percent coverage is below the actual target, he argued it is commendable.
Mr Amoako-Baah who is also the Chairman of the African Council of Power and Energy Society (PES) made this known at the opening ceremony of the 2019 AFRICON hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing engineering and technology for the benefit of humanity at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
The Ghana section of IEEE is hosting this year’s 3-day conference on the theme: Powering Africa’s Sustainable Energy for All Agenda: The Role of ICT and Engineering.
He said: “In 1989 Ghana instituted a National Electrification Scheme (NES) with the aim of providing universal access by 2020. Currently Ghana’s electrification rate is about 85%, and although a bit far off the target, it is still commendable considering that we were way below the fiftieth percentile before the scheme began. The scheme has brought electricity to most citizenry and improved their socio-economic status.
“There is a close linkage between the realisation of a Wholesale Electricity Market in Ghana and rural electrification. This is because if Rural Electrification is well addressed governments will feel more comfortable approving the roll – out of the Wholesale Electricity Market.
“I believe that to make the Rural Electrification Scheme strong it has to be set – up into an agency to provide and operate in areas classified as vulnerable and rural. Rural electrification should be addressed separately, by providing sustainable electricity solutions that is subsidised for rural folks.
“The exploitation of this endeavour has other secondary benefits such as curbing rural-urban migration, enhancing supply security, providing local solutions and providing job opportunities.”
He added: “When I started my practice in 1985 the largest companies in the world were energy-based such as Exxon Mobil, General Electronic, Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum and Gazprom. However, in today’s world the top five (5) companies are Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook which are all ICT-based. What does this tell us?
“This is not to say that the need for electricity has reduced or is diminishing, but rather more investment is going into ICT to help holistically address the challenges the world faces today.
“These include energy, food, water and shelter. You will find that in most of our workplaces ICT is increasingly being inculcated into our routine activities. Now let me ask, who in this room doesn’t use a computer in their daily work? or better still let me ask how many of you still use windows 98, vista or even windows 7?
“I bet most of you are using windows 10 now. As for the smart phones, tablets and the internet, the connectivity it has brought to the world cannot be over-estimated. We sit comfortably in our offices today and have conference calls across continents with applications like skype, slack and WhatsApp.
“The result is that discussions and solutions that could take days to reach are achieved in an hour. True Wealth as they say is in Innovation.”
Participants from over 16 countries – Finland, Sweden, Senegal, Slovakia Togo, United States, Germany, Ghana, Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Benin, and South Africa – are attending the conference.
For his part, the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Samuel Boakye-Appiah, said private investors have an important role to play in the energy sector in Africa and around the world in order to help the government to constantly supply power for domestic and commercial use.
He said: “Over the past 50 years, ECG has provided quality, safe and reliable electricity distribution services to support the economic growth and development of Ghana. Currently, with over 85% electricity access rate in Ghana, ECG and her sister utilities Volta River Authority, GRIDCo and NEDCo can be proud of our collective achievements. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the electricity penetration rate in sub-Saharan Africa”.
“According to a recent Africa Energy Outlook report published by International Energy Agency, ‘More than 620 million people live without access to electricity in Africa and those who do have access to modern energy face very high prices for a supply that is both insufficient and unreliable’.
“The same report adds that, ‘Overall, the energy sector of sub-Saharan Africa is not yet able to meet the needs and aspirations of its citizens’.”
Mr Boakye-Appiah added: “Africa is rising, yes, but Africa can only rise higher and faster on the back of sustainable energy as succinctly and eloquently captured by the theme for this conference. For sustainability in the energy sector to be sustainable, it must satisfy the following components; political acceptability, economic development, social equity and environment protection and affordability.
“Ensuring sustainability in the energy value chain requires huge capital investments to drive scientific research and technological innovations. With most African governments confronted with competing demands, infrastructure projects and social intervention programmes, they are constrained. Therefore, the onus of providing the needed capital investments for the development of sustainable energy resources to power Africa’s development is in the hands of the private sector”, he noted.
Sierra Leone Extends Bid Round Deadline
The Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone has announced that it is extending the deadline for its Fourth Licensing round.
The Directorate attributes the extension to requests from interested investors to have more time in which to complete and submit their applications.
The revised 4th bid round was reopened in May and now the deadline has been extended until February 28, 2020. This 4th round fully opens Sierra Leone’s offshore waters for petroleum licensing. Featured is a more flexible Block framework as the basis for licensing.
Direct tender for License Applications are available where 50% or more of the application area is in water depths in excess of 2,500 meters and all other License Applications fall under an open tender.
The new deadline is applicable to both direct and open tenders.
No minimum work program is required for the initial exploration period.
Further information on the Fourth Licensing Round including Bidding Guidelines, Regulatory Framework, Technical Data Packages and Data Room access requirements can be obtained from www.pd.gov.sl and www.pd-sl.com, as well as Getech – the Petroleum Directorate’s technical partner.
Total Closes Acquisition Of Anadarko’s Assets In Mozambique LNG
Total has announced the closing of the acquisition of Anadarko’s 26.5% operated interest in the Mozambique LNG project for a purchase price of $ 3.9 billion.
This closing comes after Total reached a binding agreement with Occidental on May 3, 2019, to acquire Anadarko’s assets in Africa (Mozambique, Algeria, Ghana and South Africa) and signed the subsequent Purchase and Sale Agreement on August 3, 2019. This first transaction follows receipt of all requisite approvals by the relevant authorities and partners.
“Mozambique LNG is one of a kind asset that perfectly fits with our strategy and expands our position in liquefied natural gas”, Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman & CEO of Total said.
“As the new operator, we are fully committed to the Mozambique LNG project and we will bring the best of our human, technical, marketing and financial capacities to further strengthen its execution. Total will of course work on the strong foundations established by the previous operator and its partners, in order to implement the project in the best interest of all those involved, including the government and the people of Mozambique.”
Mozambique LNG is the country’s first onshore LNG development. The project includes the development of the Golfinho and Atum fields located within Offshore Area 1 and the construction of a two-trains liquefaction plant with a capacity of 12.9 million tonnes per year (Mt/y). The Area 1 contains more than 60 Tcf of gas resources, of which 18 Tcf will be developed with the first two trains.
The Final Investment Decision (FID) on Mozambique LNG was announced on June 18, 2019, and the project is expected to come into production by 2024.
The Mozambique LNG project is largely derisked since almost 90% of the production is already sold through long-term contracts with key LNG buyers in Asia and in Europe. Additionally, the project is expected to have a domestic gas component for in-country consumption to help fuel future economic development.
Total operates Mozambique LNG with a 26.5% participating interest alongside ENH Rovuma Área Um, S.A. (15%), Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area1 Ltd. (20%), ONGC Videsh Ltd. (10%), Beas Rovuma Energy Mozambique Limited (10%), BPRL Ventures Mozambique B.V. (10%), and PTTEP Mozambique Area 1 Limited (8.5%)
Closing operations are still ongoing in relation to Anadarko’s assets in the other countries (Algeria, Ghana, South Africa).
Saudi Arabia Sets Up New $320 Million Renewables Fund
Saudi Arabia has set up a $320-million (1.2 billion riyals) fund that will provide debt financing for renewable energy projects, including the manufacturing of renewable energy components.
“Whether you’re in manufacturing, agriculture or retail, if you want to deploy renewable energy, we will finance it,” Dr. Ibrahim Bin Saad Almojel, the Director General of the investment vehicle—the Saudi Industrial Development Fund told Bloomberg.
“For renewables to be adopted in the kingdom, we need to support it.”
Investment in renewables is a key part of the Kingdom’s diversification strategy called Vision 2030. So far, however, it has not made much progress.
Back in 2012, even before the latest oil price crash, Saudi Arabia said it would invest more than $100 billion in renewable energy. Plans were to soon have a third of electricity generated by solar installations. To date, however, the share of renewable energy in Saudi Arabia’s energy mix is a tiny 0.1 percent.
Then came an even more ambitious project: a $200-billion solar power installation dubbed a solar city and touted to be the largest solar power project in the world. Riyadh, which was planning the project with Japan’s SoftBank, announced the cancellation of the solar city last year.
Still, some smaller-scale plans for renewable energy remain on the table, it seems. In January this year, Riyadh said it will tender 2.22 GW of solar power this year with a view to building as much as 40 GW of solar capacity by 2030. By 2023, the Kingdom said sat the time, it should have 20 GW in solar capacity, up from an earlier target of just 5.9 GW.
To support these projects, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund will provide funding to any company that wants to switch from fossil fuels to renewables.
“Whether you’re in manufacturing, agriculture or retail, if you want to deploy renewable energy, we will finance it,” the fund’s director general, Ibrahim Almojel, also told Bloomberg.
Ghana: GOIL Attains ‘Hall Of Fame Petroleum Company Status’, Grabs Two Other Awards
GOIL Company Limited, a leading Oil Marketing Company in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa has entered the prestigious Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) HALL of Fame Category after chalking four successive feats as PETROLEUM COMPANY OF THE YEAR in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
At the CIMG’s 30th National Anniversary Marketing and Performance Awards, GOIL also won the Marketing-Oriented Organization Of The Year 2018 for displaying distinguished pillars of ‘customer and competitive orientation, profitability, organizational culture, and interdisciplinary corporation’.
GOIL on the night of treble honours, was also recognized as a CIMG Celebrated Legacy Brand for “keeping its brand going for the past 30 years and more, and contributing in its small way by being a trail-blazer and thought leader in your niche market”.
The CIMG also cited GOIL for ‘proving its mettle by showing strong presence in the market, championing the development of winning strategies and by making the GOIL brand memorable, meaningful, likeable and adaptable over the last decade’.
In a statement copied to energynewsafrica.com, the acting Managing Director and Group CEO, Mr. Kwame Osei Prempeh paid tribute to the company’s customers for staying loyal to the brand over the period.
He pledged the company’s commitment to ensuring continued quality service.
GOIL has over 380 retail stations spread across the length and breadth of the country. The company also markets LPG, Lubricants, Marne Gas Oil and ATK (Aviation fuel)
Ghana: Electricity Tariff Up By 5.94%
Ghana’s utilities regulator, Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC), has increased electricity tariff by 5.94 percent effective today, October 1, 2019.
PURC in June 2019 announced 11.17% increase in electricity which took effect July 1.
The latest increment brings the total upward adjustment of electricity tariff within this year to about 17.11 percent.
PURC also announced an increase in water tariffs by 2.22 percent.
In a statement signed by the Executive Secretary, Mami Dufie Ofori and copied to energynewsafrica.com Monday, the PURC explained that the increase in tariffs was determined by the Automatic Adjustment Formula (AAF) which considers eight factors including Ghana cedi-US dollar exchange rate, inflation, price of crude oil and natural gas and fuel mix (Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Distillate Fuel).
Other factors are generation mix (Hydro and Thermal), power purchase cost, demand forecast and electricity cost (A major cost component in water production).
The Commission assured the general public that it is committed to embarking on effective tariff monitoring programme aimed at providing the end user improved quality of service.
Below is the full statement:
Ghana: OMCs Contribute GHc6 Billion Annually In Taxes
Oil Marketing Companies in the Republic of Ghana are contributing about GHc6 billion to the Ghanaian economy annually in a form of taxes, energynewsafrica.com can report.
The OMCs contribute GHc500 million in taxes on a monthly basis, translating into GHc6 million annually.
Currently, about 157 OMCs are operating in the West African country with a total of 3,869 outlets across the country.
Addressing a section of journalists in Accra, capital of Ghana, CEO of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies and Industry Coordinator, Mr Kwaku Agyemang Duah revealed that OMCs and LPGMCs investment in the country amounted to over US$4 billion.
Job creation
In terms of job creation, Mr Agyemang Duah revealed that OMCs have created over 60,000 direct jobs, adding that they have also created over 100,000 indirect jobs.
Challenges
Making a presentation on the progress, emerging challenges and way forward, Mr Agyemang Duah highlighted on some of the issues which are affecting the operations of their members.
He mentioned differential zonal pricing, illegal fuel trade, variation levies by various institutions at will, payment of taxes within 21+4 days, zonalisation with limited BDCs at various depots, maintaining high level of safety at all outlets as well as insurance bond as their challenges.
Way Forward
He said the OMCs were going to develop training packages, which would offer specialized operational training to employees of OMCs/LPGMCs business, on all levels of the organisation structure.
He added that there would be peer review/operational audit inspection which includes mystery shopping.
In his brief welcome remarks, Chairman of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Johnny Blagogee called on the media to collaborate with the Association in order to promote its activities.
Vice President of the association and CEO of Petrosol, Mr Michael Bozumbil noted that oil marking companies are major contributors of the Ghanaian economy.
He said apart from the huge taxes they pay to the government, they are also supporting the tourism industry because the washrooms in their outlets are mostly used by tourists who come into the country.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com