Members of the Gas Tanker Drivers Association in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa, have parked their Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) over myriads of challenges with key among them being the ban on newly built LPG stations by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
They further lamented on poor salaries, harassment and extortion by the police in Central and Western Regions, piloting of cylinder recirculation model policy and embargo on the opening of new LPG stations.
Addressing a press conference in Tema on Wednesday, the drivers noted that the NPA’s decision to ban newly constructed stations from operating has halted the wider penetration of LPG in the country.
“The embargo is also restricting job opportunities for us as drivers of LPG tankers. This is because the availability of stations to receive LPG products increases our employability and working times,” they said.
According the drivers, the development has put undue pressure and negatively impacting on their working conditions.
“We call on the NPA to lift the embargo immediately and process all such other station application for operation,” they said.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com after the press conference, Moses Kwaku Otoo, who is the Industrial Relations Officer for the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), said the drivers would not resume operation until their grievances were addressed.
He said it was about time NPA acted right by making sure that undue pressure on stakeholders in the downstream sector were lessened.
He said the drivers had written letters to the various stakeholders but all to no available.
In an interview with energynewsafrica.com, Chairman of the Gas Tanker Drivers Association, Shafiu Mohammed said the over 1,000 tanker drivers would not move their BRVs until NPA saw the need to address their grievances.
Meanwhile, National Vice Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Union of TUC, Alabi Sunday, who was at the press conference, said the national union is solidly behind the members.
He said if by Monday they do not see any action by the NPA to address the issue, they would have no other option than to declare a strike in solidarity with the aggrieved members.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Gas Tanker Drivers Association in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa, has parked their Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) over myriads of challenges with key among them being the ban on newly built LPG stations by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
They further lamented on poor salaries, harassment and extortion by the police in Central and Western Regions, piloting of cylinder recirculation model policy and embargo on the opening of new LPG stations.
Addressing a press conference in Tema on Wednesday, the drivers noted that the NPA’s decision to ban newly constructed stations from operating has halted the wider penetration of LPG in the country.
“The embargo is also restricting job opportunities for us as drivers of LPG tankers. This is because the availability of stations to receive LPG products increases our employability and working times,” they said.
According the drivers, the development has put undue pressure and negatively impacting on their working conditions.
“We call on the NPA to lift the embargo immediately and process all such other station application for operation,” they said.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com after the press conference, Moses Kwaku Otoo, who is the Industrial Relations Officer for the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), said the drivers would not resume operation until their grievances were addressed.
He said it was about time NPA acted right by making sure that undue pressure on stakeholders in the downstream sector were lessened.
He said the drivers had written letters to the various stakeholders but all to no available.
In an interview with energynewsafrica.com, Chairman of the Gas Tanker Drivers Association, Shafiu Mohammed said the over 1,000 tanker drivers would not move their BRVs until NPA saw the need to address their grievances.
Meanwhile, National Vice Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Union of TUC, Alabi Sunday, who was at the press conference, said the national union is solidly behind the members.
He said if by Monday they do not see any action by the NPA to address the issue, they would have no other option than to declare a strike in solidarity with the aggrieved members.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Giant oilfield services provider, Halliburton, has recorded a $1.7 billion loss in the second quarter, which the firm attributed to $2.1 billion in impairments.
Halliburton on Monday reported $3.2 billion of revenue during the second quarter, a 46 per cent drop compared to the $5.9 billion of revenue during the same period last year.
The company’s $1.7 billion loss was a night-and-day difference from the $75 million profit during the second quarter of 2019. If we look at the loss per share, the $1.91 loss is far from the earnings of 9 cents per share.
Adjusted net income for the second quarter of 2020, excluding impairments and other charges, was $46 million, or $0.05 per diluted share.
Halliburton stated that the second-quarter loss was due to writing down the value of $2.1 billion of the company’s assets.
It must be said that, during the first quarter, Halliburton also had to write down $1.1. billion worth of assets. This is also the third time in a row that Halliburton reported a loss in the billions. The first quarter of 2020 saw a $1 billion loss while the fourth quarter of 2019 saw a $1.7 billion loss.
Minus the write-downs and other charges, Halliburton reported earning $456 million of free cash flow, an increase from the $12 million reported during the first quarter. The company also has $1.8 billion of cash on hand.
Jeff Miller, chairman, president, and CEO of Halliburton, stated: “Halliburton’s second-quarter performance in a tough market shows we can execute quickly and aggressively to deliver solid financial results and free cash flow despite a severe drop in global activity.
“Total company revenue was $3.2 billion and adjusted operating income was $236 million. Despite the market headwinds, the margin performance of our Completion and Production and Drilling and Evaluation divisions and the $456 million of positive free cash flow generated this quarter show the speed and effectiveness of our aggressive cost actions.
“Halliburton is charting a fundamentally different course. The strategic actions we are taking will further boost our earnings power and ability to generate free cash flow as we power into and win the eventual recovery”.
“The Government of Ghana should let us know how it intends to settle all the debts it owe independent power producers in the country,” Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor, CEO of CIPDiB has said.
Ghana’s Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to present the 2020 mid-year budget in Parliament on Thursday, July 23.
The mid-year budget will detail the government’s efforts for the past six months and how it intends to manage the country for the remaining half of the year.
The country’s energy sector is saddled with debts.
According to the Chamber of Independent Power Producers Bulk Distributors and Consumers (CIPDiB), cumulative indebtedness to its members as at 30th June, 2020, is about US$1.4 billion.
In a statement copied to energynewsafrica.com, the Chamber said its members have resorted to loans in order to sustain power generation to serve the country.
It said the situation is grim and could lead to shut down of power plants if it is not resolved immediately.
“As at 30th June, 2020, the cumulative indebtedness to the IPPs is about USD$1.4 billion and continue to accumulate, compelling the IPPs to contract costly loans to sustain their generations. This situation is grim and there is a real danger of IPPs shutting their plants if the situation is not resolved in the immediate term.
“The mid-year budget should include measures to ensure that the shortfall in ECG’s revenues are addressed as and when they occur to ensure that IPPs and others who supply products or services to ECG are paid on time.
“IPPs cannot be responsible for the government’s subsidies and other obligations,” the statement said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Association of Oil Marketing Companies in the Republic of Ghana is seeking a review of the government’s tax policy, which requires OMCs to pay in full taxes on fuel products they have lifted but yet to be sold.
According to the Association, the nature of the policy is more or less pre-financing government, which in their estimation, is not the best.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com in an exclusive interview, Industry Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer for the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah described the current tax policy as inimical to the operations of the OMCs.
Mr. Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, CEO of Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Republic of Ghana
He mentioned that the policy, coupled with the impact outbreak of covid-19, has heavily affected a good number of OMCs.
He revealed that about 35 OMCs are currently not lifting fuel because of financial challenges triggered by the taxes and cost of operations.
“The main thing that we have in the industry still persists. That is, the issue of paying taxes on goods we have not sold. We pay taxes as we lift the product. So, assuming you lift 100,000 litres, you have to pay taxes whether you have sold it or not. So, assuming I sell 40,000 litres, its immaterial as I have to pay taxes on all. Moreover, the difficulty is how I get money to pay. It means you have to go to the bank and borrow to pay. Therefore, it is more or less like pre-financing the government.
“So what we are doing is that we are discussing with GRA and Ministry of Finance to see how we deal with the tax issue. We are not saying reduce the taxes, but we believe that if, for instance, it is pay as you sell, it will help all of us. If the money is not there and because you have the law on your side, I must pay at all cost then that is very bad,” he said.
Mr Agyemang-Duah, however, lauded the passage of the Insolvency Act, which he said would give businesses that are struggling or liquidated companies the opportunity to reorganise and bounce back.
“The Insolvency Act will help people in the situation of bankruptcy to really avail themselves and come back again. It is a good opportunity for us, but be it as it may, I think it is not operational yet so you cannot avail yourself for that opportunity.”
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Indian Oil Corp Ltd’s 300,000 barrels per day refinery located on east coast of the country will be shut down for three weeks to pave way for maintenance.
A top official of the company disclosed this to Reuters on Sunday.
“The Indian Oil refinery in Paradip will remain shut from July 25 to August 15 for maintenance,” said Sangram Keshari Mohapatra, the top bureaucrat in the district of Jagatsinghpur, where the refinery is located.
As per the company’s request, a shutdown order has been issued,” he said, adding the refinery was last shutdown completely in 2018.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has launched the pilot phase of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) in Yendi in the Northern Region of the West African nation.
This will lead to the rollout of a nationwide ‘door-to-door’ distribution of gas distribution in the country.
The pilot is the third after a similar exercise in the Eastern and Ashanti regions.
Speaking at the ceremony held under strict Covid19 protocols, Alhassan Tampuli, Chief Executive of the Authority, said Ghanaians would be encouraged to fully participate in the rollout.
He said the safety inspection division of the Authority would be at hand to assist with the required safety features of distribution outlets.
On the choice of Yendi for the pilot, Mr Tampuli said the municipality was selected because it links major towns such as Salaga and Bimbilla, which are commercially viable towns in the northern part of the country.
Chairman of the Pilot Implementation Committee, Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, who is also the Chief Executive of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, was confident the team would continue to learn lessons from challenges picked from previous pilots programmes to ensure they are addressed.
“We do pilot to help guide us identify problems and fix them as we go along,” he said.
Chief Executive of Yendi Municipal Assembly, Alhaji Hammed Abubakari Yussif dispelled claims that the programme would disrupt the business activities of those in the sale of firewood.
“This is a safer way of addressing the associated health issues in the firewood business,” he said.
Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, Industry Coordinator and Chairman of the Pilot Implementation Committee
The Senate Committee on Power in the Republic of Nigeria,West Africa, has inspected the on-going 12.4KM Katampe-National Stadium 132kV double circuit transmission line project and the site of the new 330/132/33kV substation at new Apo as part of its oversight function in the power sector.
The on-going Katampe-National Stadium 132kV DC line originates from the 330/132/33kV Katampe Transmission Substation.
The new line comprises of 8.4KM underground armored cabling that terminates at Wuye district. From Wuye, the line would be strung overhead for 4kms on several towers to the 132/33kV Kukwaba Transmission Substation.
The new 330/132/33kV Transmission Substation at new Apo, funded by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) was designed to take additional bulk electricity to the FCT from Akwanga and also provide bulk supply redundancy in Abuja and environs, consistent with N-1 criteria.
The Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Gabriel Suswam, who led the delegation from the National Assembly, expressed delight with the level of work being done and pledged to support TCN overcome bottlenecks that may pose a challenge to the timely completion of the projects.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Hundreds of protesters demanding the government keep its promise to create jobs have shut down a key oil pumping station in southern Tunisia.
According to report filed by VOA, which quoted Reuters, the demonstrators closed in on the Kamour station despite the presence of soldiers guarding the installation.
The demonstrators were looking to pressure the Tunisian government into following through with a 2017 deal to create jobs in the oil industry and other infrastructure projects in the southern Tatouine region, where unemployment is said to be more than 30%.
Those who live there say the central government has ignored them.
Police clashed with anti-government protesters in Tatouine earlier this week after the government said the Tunisian economy had taken a beating from the coronavirus epidemic and sought debt relief from some lenders.
Tunisia’s economic woes come on top of government turmoil after Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh resigned Wednesday.
He stepped down over a possible conflict of interest involving government contracts with a waste treatment plant in which he allegedly held shares.
The prime minister said he sold his stake in the company. An investigation is under way, but Fakhfakh said he would stay on as a caretaker prime minister until a successor was named.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has advised against a swift relocation of tank farms from their current locations along Ijegun, Kirikiri areas in Lagos and other parts of the country in order to avoid a dislocation in the supply and distribution chain of petroleum products across the country.
The corporation made the submission at a hearing by the House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc Committee on Relocation of Tank Farms in Residential Areas of Ijegun, Kirikiri.
A statement issued by the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, quoted the Managing Director of the corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, as saying that NNPC was not averse to the relocation of the petroleum products tank farms and depots sited in residential areas.
However, it said the NNPC but rather expect some time to be allowed to achieve the full rehabilitation of the refineries and the completion of the Dangote Refinery to enable the nation exit fuel importation before their relocation.
The GMD who was represented by the corporation’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Umar Ajiya, told the committee that the tank farms and depots were a major artery for receiving and distributing imported petroleum products to all parts of the country.
He explained that their abrupt relocation would could trigger a crisis not only in the Downstream Sector but also in the nation’s economy in general.
“We are not opposed to the yearnings of the communities or the relocation of the tank farms and depots, but we want it to be done in phases because of the huge financial commitments by the stakeholders. If they are relocated abruptly, even the banking sector would be affected because of the loans they granted for the establishment of the depots”, the GMD stated.
Speaking earlier while inaugurating the Committee, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajiabiamila, said the Ad-hoc Committee was set up to investigate the concerns expressed by the residents in order to have a fair assessment of the situation.
Hon. Gbajiabiamila who was represented by the House Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Tobi Okechukwu, acknowledged that tank farms and depots were a critical component of the Downstream Petroleum Sector and assured that the House would look at the issue holistically and make a decision in the public interest.
He decried the inability of the NNPC to distribute petroleum products through the pipelines due to incessant vandalism which has made products distribution by tankers over long distances a hazard to the society.
The Committee was set up to receive petitions by the residents of Ijegun, Kirikiri and others areas in Lagos State on the dangers posed by the operations of depots and tank farms to their respective communities.
The Committee is chaired by Hon. Sergius Ogun.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Halliburton, Microsoft and Accenture entered into a five-year strategic agreement to advance Halliburton’s digital capabilities in Microsoft Azure.
Under the agreement, Halliburton will complete its move to cloud-based digital platforms and strengthen its customer offerings by:
• Enhancing real-time platforms for expanded remote operations,
• Improving analytics capability with the Halliburton Data Lake utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence, and
• Accelerating the deployment of new technology and applications, including SOC2 compliance, for Halliburton’s overall system reliability and security.
“The strategic agreement with Microsoft and Accenture is an important step in our adoption of new technology and applications to enhance our digital capabilities, drive additional business agility and reduce capital expenditures,” said Jeff Miller, Halliburton chairman, president & CEO said in a press release posted on the company’s website.
“We are excited about the benefits our customers and employees will realize through this agreement, and the opportunity to further leverage our open architecture approach to software delivery.”
“Moving to the cloud allows companies to create market-shaping customer offerings and drive tangible business outcomes,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president, Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business. “Through this alliance with Halliburton and Accenture, we will apply the power of the cloud to unlock digital capabilities that deliver benefits for Halliburton and its customers.”
The agreement also enables the migration of all Halliburton physical data centers to Azure, which delivers enterprise-grade cloud services at global scale and offers sustainability benefits.
Accenture will work closely with Microsoft, in conjunction with their Avanade joint venture, to help transition Halliburton’s digital capabilities and business-critical applications to Azure.
Accenture will leverage its comprehensive cloud migration framework, which brings industrialized capabilities together with exclusive tools, methods, and automation to accelerate Halliburton’s data center migration and provide for additional transformation opportunities.
Consumers of gasoline and gasoil in the Republic of Ghana should be prepared to pay more for the commodity in the coming days.
According to the Institute for Energy Security (IES), prices of fuel is likely to witness about 1.5 percent increment.
Oil market leaders -GOIL, Shell (Vivo), and Total sell at GHc4.82 as at the closing of the 16th July.
Crude oil prices have seen a rise over the last couple of days.
At about 9:45 Friday, WTI was trading at US$40.59 while Brent was selling at US$43.15.
S&P’s Platts benchmark for fuels shows average gasoline price gained 5.59 percent to close at US$390.73 per metric tonne, from a previous average of US$370.05 per metric tonne.
Gasoil appreciated by 5.31 percent to close trading at US$361.80 per metric tonne, from a previous average of US$343.57 per metric tonne.
Data collated by IES Economic Desk from the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market shows the cedi remained largely stable in relation to the U.S. dollar, appreciating by 0.17 percent against the major trading currency for oil.
The cedi traded at an average price of Gh¢5.71 to the dollar over the period, a departure from the Gh¢5.72 recorded in the second pricing-window of June 2020.
“Going by the 3.68 percent surge in price of Brent crude oil, in addition to the 5.59 percent and 5.31 percent rise in the prices of gasoline and gasoil respectively on the international market; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees prices of fuel on the domestic market going up marginally even though the cedi appreciated against the US dollar by 0.17 percent.
However, competition between Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to control and gain more market shares, and mounting pressure on the government to reduce prices of fuel may result in fuel prices remaining largely stable within the second pricing-window of July 2020,” a statement issued by IES said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The United States has warned companies helping Russia to complete the Nord Stream 2 and the TurkStream 2 natural gas pipelines that they should ‘get out now’ or face consequences, as the Trump Administration steps up efforts to stop the construction of the controversial Russia-led pipelines in Europe.
The U.S. Department of State is updating its sanctions guidance under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA, to include Nord Stream 2 and the second line of TurkStream 2, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a press briefing last Wednesday.
“This action puts investments or other activities that are related to these Russian energy export pipelines at risk of U.S. sanctions. It’s a clear warning to companies aiding and abetting Russia’s malign influence projects will not be tolerated. Get out now, or risk the consequences,” Secretary Pompeo said.
The projects are the “Kremlin’s key tools to exploit and expand European dependence on Russian energy supplies, tools that undermine Ukraine by cutting off gas transiting that critical democracy, a tool that ultimately undermines transatlantic security,” he added.
The U.S. view that the Nord Stream 2 project is further undermining Europe’s energy security by giving Russian gas giant Gazprom another pipeline to ship its natural gas to European markets.
The U.S. has already imposed some sanctions on the project, which saw Western vessel and technology providers pull out of the project in December 2019. Following the announcement of the sanctions, Switzerland-based offshore pipelay and subsea construction company Allseas immediately suspended Nord Stream 2 pipelay activities.
Earlier this month, a Russian vessel capable of completing the pipelaying for Nord Stream 2 left a German port and entered Danish waters where the last section of the controversial pipeline has yet to be completed.
This occurred several days after the Danish Energy Agency allowed Nord Stream 2 AG to use pipelaying vessels with anchors for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines. With an anchored Russian vessel, Gazprom could complete the construction of the pipeline in Danish waters.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s power distribution company, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has refuted media report suggesting that electricity tariff has gone up by 17.5 percent.
Some online portals are reporting that government after absorbing cost of electricity for lifeline customers and 50 percent rebate for commercial users, for three months had turned around to slap consumers with 17.5 percent tariff.
However, the state power distributor, in a disclaimer issued, said: “ECG wishes to inform its cherished customers and the general public that the PURC, which is mandated by law to set tariffs, has not informed ECG of any increase in tariff, neither has the ECG received notice from the Government of Ghana of new or increased taxes to be applied to the current electricity tariff structure.”
The ECG, thus, urged customers and the general public to ignore the misinformation.
Checks at the utilities regulator, PURC, indicated that there has not been any increase in electricity tariff as suggested by some online portals.
Meanwhile, Head of Audit at the Large Taxpayers Office of the GRA, Dr Martin Yamborigya, has also dismissed the claim that new taxes had been imposed on electricity consumers, thereby, increasing the levy.
He explained that per the Value Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act 870), electricity in general was supposed to be taxable, except the domestic use up to the lifeline tariff (between 0-50 kilowatts), which the government gave out for free to consumers for the three-month period.
Dr Yamborigya added that there is already a VAT component on electricity bills since 2014 when Act 870 started with implementation, hence, consumers already pay taxes, and that is not new.
He further clarified that power producers are supposed to charge VAT on what they produce before they sell to Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
This is known as the input tax.
ECG also charges output tax before selling to consumers, and is supposed to account for both the input and output tax, and deduct the input from the output and pay the difference to GRA.
“However, what is happening now is that when the power producer is billing ECG, they don’t include the VAT, but ECG charges consumers VAT.
“So ECG calculates only the VAT it charges consumers at the end of the month. So they are not able to pay all the amount which has led to huge debt of about GH₵350 million. In view of this development, we decided to spread it in order to lessen the burden on ECG,” Dr Yamborigya said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
On the choice of Yendi for the pilot, Mr Tampuli said the municipality was selected because it links major towns such as Salaga and Bimbilla, which are commercially viable towns in the northern part of the country.
Chairman of the Pilot Implementation Committee, Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, who is also the Chief Executive of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, was confident the team would continue to learn lessons from challenges picked from previous pilots programmes to ensure they are addressed.
“We do pilot to help guide us identify problems and fix them as we go along,” he said.
Chief Executive of Yendi Municipal Assembly, Alhaji Hammed Abubakari Yussif dispelled claims that the programme would disrupt the business activities of those in the sale of firewood.
“This is a safer way of addressing the associated health issues in the firewood business,” he said.
The Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Gabriel Suswam, who led the delegation from the National Assembly, expressed delight with the level of work being done and pledged to support TCN overcome bottlenecks that may pose a challenge to the timely completion of the projects.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
