South Africa Negotiating Refinery with South Sudan

Michael Creg Afful
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South Africa is negotiating an oil deal with South Sudan, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe said when speaking to the media. The Minister’s statement follows reports that the country was in talks to construct a refinery in South Sudan.

Radebe said the negotiations with South Sudan were not exclusive and it was also looking at securing deals in other countries like Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

Reports of a $1-billion refinery deal with South Africa first emerged earlier this year, saying Cape Town had already spent almost $1.4 million on the refinery project.

Radebe and the government were criticized by lawmakers of going about the deal in a secretive way. The Energy Minister dismissed the criticism saying all was “above board” in South Africa’s oil and gas negotiations with South Sudan.

Power outages: Enough of the excuses – Buah to government

Michael Creg Afful
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Power outages: Enough of the excuses – Buah to government
Emmanuel Armah, Kofi Buah
Former Energy Minister, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah has slammed government’s attempt to downplay the recent power crisis with a series of explanations. Speaking to reporters Monday on the back of government’s apology to Ghanaians for the recent erratic power cuts in several parts of the country, Kofi Buah urged the government to focus and once and for all deal with the challenges. According to him, he is as confused as any Ghanaian on the current power instability and that government needs to comprehensively engage the public on the extent of the challenge as well outline steps being taken to address it. “The people of Ghana, I have learnt are very understanding and will be very clear in their minds when the government levels with them. But I think that the government do not level with the people of Ghana and comprehensively tell the people of Ghana what’s going on, the challenges they are facing. “But try to basically do ad-hoc announcements and think that when it comes to the energy sector you can simply buy your way on a daily basis, it won’t work because, in the final analysis, the people of Ghana do not want to hear anything else. I have learnt that. Just turn the lights on,” he said. Meanwhile, at a news conference Monday morning, the Deputy Energy Minister, William Owuraku Aidoo, said enough measures have been put in place to deal with the situation. “We have enough fuel, contrary that government doesn’t have money and we are mismanaging the energy sector, that is absolute balderdash…in a nutshell all that I am trying to say is that we have taken the necessary steps to reduce to the barest minimum the disruption of power to the country. “All I will say now on behalf of the Hon. Minister, President, of course, is to apologise to the people of Ghana and to assure you that we are doing all we can to bring the supply of electricity to normalcy.”

We’ll apply sanctions over recent ‘dumsor’ – PURC

Michael Creg Afful
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We’ll apply sanctions over recent ‘dumsor’ – PURC
Mami Dufie Ofori, Executive Secretary of PURC The Public utilities regulatory commission(PURC) has served notice it will apply sanctions if anyone or institution is found guilty of the recent power cuts Ghanaians are suffering.

According to the PURC, an investigation is being conducted in the intermittent power supply in several parts of the country and the responsible agencies will have to provide answers.

“It’s rather unfortunate that a series of negative things are happening in the power sector. If PURC realizes that somebody didn’t do something right, the appropriate sanctions will be applied,” spokesperson for the PURC Bawa Munkaila said on Accra based Starr FM. Power cuts have been regular in parts of the country following the takeover of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) by the Power Distribution Services (PDS). PDS has at different times given different reasons for the cause of the power cuts but the problem still persist despite assurances to curb it. Currently, the Bureau of National Investigations and the Police Service are investigating the deliberate destruction of power transmission lines of the Ghana Grid Company in Tema. Some unknown persons reportedly put some corrosive chemicals on the pylon to melt it and later hacked it down. The Energy Minister John Peter Amewu who toured the area described the incident as an act of sabotage to derail government’s efforts to improve power supply.

Ghana: Power outages not due to money to buy fuel-Owuraku Aidoo

Michael Creg Afful
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Ghana: Power outages not due to money to buy fuel-Owuraku Aidoo
William Owuraku Aidoo The Energy Ministry has dismissed claims that government does not have money to procure fuel to power the various power plants, hence the recent power outages. According to the Ministry, the current government has not mismanaged the energy sector as its critics wants Ghanaians to swallow hook, line and sinker. Energynewsafrica.com reported over the weekend that Ghanaians should brace themselves up for 12 days of load shedding due to the shut down of Atuabo Gas Processing Plant. The planned shut down is to enable Ghana Gas complete the final tie-in works under the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection Project. Consequently, the country lost about 300MW from the national grid. The situation, apparently, heightened the suspicion of Ghanaians, especially the opposition NDC, who had been claiming that Ghana had returned to the era of load shedding popularly referred to as ‘dumsor’. Executive Director of Energy Think Thank, Africa Centre Energy Policy (ACEP), Benjamin Boakye speaking on Accra-based Joy FM on Monday, April 1, 2019, also claimed government does not have money to buy fuel and urged government to accept that the country is going to load shedding. But, at a presser at the Ministry of Energy today, Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of Power, William Owuraku Aidoo described the claim as false. “The claim that government doesn’t have money is absolutely balderdash,” he stated in a strong word. Owuraku Aidoo, who admitted that the shutdown of Atuabo Gas Processing Plant would result in interruptions in power supply, however, explained that government has made arrangements for alternative fuel to power the plants. “We have taken all the necessary steps to reduce interruptions in the power supply. We have enough fuel in TOR tanks and so after this press conference, we will take you there,” he stated. The Deputy Minister, who apologised to Ghanaians for the interruptions in power supply, urged for calm, noting that the tie-in of Atuabo Gas Pipeline interconnectivity with West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPCO) would inure to the benefit of Ghanaians. The CEO of Ghana Gas, Dr Ben Asante, stated that the completion of the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection Project would benefit the country, as it would transport gas from the Western Region for utilisation in Tema power enclave. Briefing pressmen and officials of the Ministry of Energy led by Deputy Minister for Power, William Owuraku Aidoo, the MD of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Isaac Osei said his outfit had received fuel deliveries for AKSA and Volta River Authority (VRA). “We have received 10,500 metric tonnes of argu (diesel ) from Stratcom and Go Energy for Karpowership. We have also received 11,000 metric tonnes of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) from Go Energy for AKSA as well as 300,000 barrels of Light Crude Oil(LCO) for VRA,” he explained.

NOC and ENI Sign MoUs

Michael Creg Afful
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Libya’s state-run oil and gas firm NOC, and Italian major ENI, signed two MoUs on March 25. The first MoU concerned the establishment of a steering committee to expedite gas production at structures ‘A’ and ‘E’ within maritime concession MN 41 in the Sabratha marine basin.

The steering committee will oversee the timely and transparent implementation of this project, in line with best-practice good governance, and will work to alleviate difficulties facing project implementation. This important strategic project will provide gas to meet both local consumption and export requirements. Once complete, project capacity from both structures will total 760 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The second MoU agrees to jointly fund capacity building programs for industrial security staff at NOC and Mellitah Oil and Gas Company, with workshops focusing on risk assessment and mitigation, crisis management, and comprehensive field inspection procedures.

During the signing ceremony, NOC chief Mustapha Sanalla commented: “ENI is one of NOC’s strategic partners and one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, renowned for its expertise and technological capabilities that we seek to bring to Libya. Our sector is the backbone of the national economy – we should preserve it for future generations. We have to work on developing the sector in order to increase production and fuel development.” Source: petroleumafrica.com

Michael Creg Afful
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0
Libya’s state-run oil and gas firm NOC, and Italian major ENI, signed two MoUs on March 25. The first MoU concerned the establishment of a steering committee to expedite gas production at structures ‘A’ and ‘E’ within maritime concession MN 41 in the Sabratha marine basin.

The steering committee will oversee the timely and transparent implementation of this project, in line with best-practice good governance, and will work to alleviate difficulties facing project implementation. This important strategic project will provide gas to meet both local consumption and export requirements. Once complete, project capacity from both structures will total 760 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The second MoU agrees to jointly fund capacity building programs for industrial security staff at NOC and Mellitah Oil and Gas Company, with workshops focusing on risk assessment and mitigation, crisis management, and comprehensive field inspection procedures.

During the signing ceremony, NOC chief Mustapha Sanalla commented: “ENI is one of NOC’s strategic partners and one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, renowned for its expertise and technological capabilities that we seek to bring to Libya. Our sector is the backbone of the national economy – we should preserve it for future generations. We have to work on developing the sector in order to increase production and fuel development.” Source: petroleumafrica.com

Ghana: We’ve resolved ‘dumsor’-Akufo-Addo

Michael Creg Afful
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Ghana: We’ve resolved ‘dumsor’-Akufo-Addo
President of Ghana His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo has asserted that his administration has been able to resolve the debilitating power crisis it inherited from the previous government headed by Mr John Dramani Mahama. He added that his administration is also clearing the $2.4 billion energy sector debts they inherited from the Mahama government. Consequently, the President said: “Today, we are exporting energy to Burkina Faso, we will begin, again, to Togo,” The provision of sustainable, reliable power, the President said, is key to the smooth operation of the bauxite, iron and steel industries that are being created by his administration. Speaking at a town hall meeting with members of the Ghanaian community on Saturday, 30 March 2019 in Worcester, Massachusetts, President Akufo-Addo said the 16th International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme, entered into by the Mahama government in 2015, should be the last time Ghana resorts to such a progamme for the restoration of fiscal discipline in her economy. He noted that the 2015 IMF programme had to be entered into because “the Mahama government had lost control over the management of the economy.” It was, thus, necessary to go through the programme to restore a certain amount of discipline into Ghana’s public finances. “Even when they left office in 2016, the issue was still at large. But, by discipline, by honest management of our public’s finances, we have brought the situation back to where it should be. So, we have exited the IMF programme,” the President said. He continued, “What I am saying to Ghanaians, to all of us, is that, in the 62 years of our independence, this was the 16th IMF bailout programme that the nation had gone into. Let it be the last time that we would resort to an IMF programme.”

GE partnership successfully delivers project ahead of schedule

Michael Creg Afful
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GE partnership successfully delivers project ahead of schedule
Pakistan’s energy market is set to be enhanced following the successful synchronisation of the first of two supercritical turbines from GE Steam Power at China Power Hub Generation Company’s (CPHGC) new power plant. According to a statement from GE, the project has been completed three months ahead of schedule. The 1,320MW plant is located 25 kilometers southwest of the town of Hub, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, and is a joint-venture project between China Power International Holding Limited (CPIH) and Pakistan’s Hub Power Company (HUBCO). Construction of the CPHGC power plant at Hub began in March 2017 and is expected to begin commercial operation later this year. The plant is one of the infrastructure ventures supported under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. This development ‘megaproject’ will connect Gwadar Port in southern Pakistan to Xinjiang, China’s northwestern autonomous region, through transportation and energy networks. The project will support faster socio-economic development by helping to meet the country’s growing energy needs. It will also help Pakistan diversify its energy mix and reduce dependence on expensive imported fuels, allowing the use of cheaper supplies of coal.
Core power generation equipment
Under an agreement signed in 2016, GE is supplying the core power generation equipment for the project, which comprises two units each of supercritical boilers, steam turbine and generator sets. The project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors are Northwest Electric Power Design Institute Co. Ltd. (NWEPDI) and Tianjin Electric Power Construction Company (TEPC). “This is a world-class example of GE’s global engineering, manufacturing and execution teams working closely together along with our customers to beat an already ambitious delivery schedule,” said Andreas Lusch, President & CEO of GE Steam Power. Lusch added: “Reaching this key milestone early required a very high degree of technical, engineering and production coordination between our factories in Wuhan and Beijing, China and Wroclaw, Poland with the highest commitment to quality and on-time delivery for our customers.” Also commenting to the milestone was the CEO of CPHGC, Zhao Yonggang, who noted that: “CPHGC is the first overseas thermal power project developed by State Power Investment Corporation under the Belt & Road Initiative. The 2X660MW Coal-Fired Power Project is a priority project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. “It is testimony to our strong and close partnership with GE that we managed to reach this point well-ahead of schedule. We look forward to continuing our meaningful partnership with GE that promises to be beneficial for the power sector of Pakistan.” Source: Esi-africa.com

Update: Shut down of Atuabo gas plant won’t affect power supply

Michael Creg Afful
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Update: Shut down of Atuabo gas plant won’t affect power supply
Atuabo Gas Processing Plant Ghana Grid Company is urging Ghanaians to remain calm as measures have been put in place to avert the impact of the shut down of Atuabo Gas Processing Plant. According to CEO of GRIDCo Jonathan Amoako-Baah, plans have been made to use other sources of fuel to run the plants in place of gas. The valve of Atuabo Gas Processing plant in the Western Region was closed at 09.25hrs today, Saturday, March 30, 2019, for a 12-day outage to complete the final tie-in works under the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection Project.

Breaking News: Twelve days load shedding begins today

Michael Creg Afful
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Breaking News: Twelve days load shedding begins today
Atuabo Gas Processing Plant Ghanaians should brace themselves up for a 12-day load shedding due to the shut down of Atuabo Gas Processing Plant for mandatory maintenance, energynewsafrica.com can confirm. Sources within the power sector told this portal that the valve of Atuabo Gas Processing plant in the Western Region was closed at 09.25h today Saturday March 30 for a 12-day outage to complete the final tie-in works under the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection Project. As a result of the termination of gas flow from the west, the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) has requested a total load reduction of 300MW from 08:00hrs to 18:00hrs.

Tower Vandalism: MP charges CID to speed up investigation

Michael Creg Afful
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Tower Vandalism: MP charges CID to speed up investigation
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem has urged the CID to speed up its investigations into the hacking down of GRIDCo’s tower in Tema. George Mireku Duker, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, said the conclusion of the investigations and subsequent punishment of the perpetrators would serve as a deterrent to other nation wreckers. One of the towers of GRIDCo’s transmission lines in Tema, which transmitted power from Karpower, VRA plants and AKSA to the national grid, was vandalised last Monday dawn, collapsing on an adjacent tower. The incident, which happened at about 1am, resulted in interruptions in power supply in Accra, Western and Kumasi. The incident is currently being investigated by the CID. Speaking on the floor of Parliament last Friday, Mireku Duker condemned the unpatriotic action of the perpetrators of the act. He called for security around all security installations across the country.
“I think, what has happened should be a wake up call for our security agencies to beef up security around all security installations so that it will prevent further attack,” he said.
Contributing to the statement, Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, noted that the action of the perpetrators poses serious security threat to the country. He called on the security agencies to attach seriousness to the issue and deal with it to avoid any future occurrence. Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Ocquaye directed Mines and Energy Committee to help the security agencies find solution to deal with the issue.

$80m GNPC budget cut good – ACEP

Michael Creg Afful
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$80m GNPC budget cut good – ACEP
Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director of ACEP Energy think tank, the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), has welcomed the decision by parliament to reduce the budget of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) by $80 million. The Executive Director of ACEP, Mr Benjamin Boakye, however, said the organisation requires the details of the budget to ascertain whether or not the $80 million cut is significant. “This is great but we need to see the details of the budget to see whether the amount reduced is significant or not. There was a lot of waste in the GNPC’s budget and that was why we raised issues with the budget they presented to parliament,” he said. The Ranking Member of the Select Committee on Energy, Mr Adam Mutawakilu, revealed the budget cut to the media. According to him, the GNPC failed to provide justification for some of the projects captured in its 2019 budget. The Committee also raised questions about some $50 million the Corporation requested for the building of a refinery, as part of the government’s plans to create a petroleum hub in the country. Recently, ACEP questioned moves by the GNPC to spend $43 million on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and less on its operational functions. ACEP alleged that GNPC was spending $20 million on its operations in the Voltaian Basin, which is less than 50% of the amount expected to be spent on CSR programmes. A document by ACEP said: “The Corporation plans to spend US$ 43.05 million on corporate social responsibility for the 2019 operational year.” “In 2019, GNPC proposes to spend $20.3 million on its operations in the Voltaian Basin and its subsidiaries in the sector. This is less than 50% of what GNPC wants to spend on CSR,” the energy policy think tank stated. ACEP noted that GNPC in recent times has become more popular in delivering development projects rather than its core mandate. “While GNPC, like any corporate entity, has a responsibility towards society, it is unusual for sound corporate organisations to spend more than 10% of its cash flow (not profit) on corporate social responsibility. The Corporation’s CSR expenditure becomes more profound when its CSR budget is compared with the budget of some critical ministries.” The policy think tank further called on parliament not to approve the budget. “Parliament should not approve any CSR budget for the Corporation until the end of the fifteen-year financing window provided in the PRMA has elapsed. This should free up funds for the Corporation to deliver on its core mandate as an upstream oil player,” ACEP recommended. Source: ClassFMonline.com

Energy Minister condemns attack on PDS staff

Michael Creg Afful
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Energy Minister condemns attack on PDS staff
Energy Minister, John-Peter Amewu Energy Minister John-Peter Amewu has condemned the recent attack on Power Distribution Services (PDS) staff at Kokrobite in the Ga South Municipality in Greater Accra Region. He warned that persons who take the law into their hands and engage in acts of lawlessness must be brought to book. He explained that 39-year-old Gershon Asiedu, who had his nose slashed, was in Kokrobite with a team to work and restore electricity to the community. “This gentleman who was slashed with cutlass went there with a noble mind…I mean, with a very good intention, to make sure that power is area.ored but ended up being attacked.
“It’s quiet unfortunate. The law enforcement agency is taking the issue seriously and of course, the gentleman will not be spared,” he said.
John-Peter Amewu made these remarks when the Chief of Kokrobite, Nii Ayinsah Sasraku III, Assemblyman for Kokrobite Saka Allotey, and some opinion leaders paid a visit to him to brief him about the incident and also to apologise for what had happened. He indicated that staff of PDS are service providers and therefore called on Ghanaians, to see them as such and desist from attacking them, when they see them in their communities. Nii Ayinsah Sakraku III assured the minister that they would help the police to apprehend the perpetrator so that he would be made to face the full rigours of the law. Assemblyman for Kokrobite, Hon. Saka Allotey who spoke to energynewsafrica.com after the meeting said they would ensure that the unfortunate incident does not repeat itself in the area.

Libya’s Oil Revenues Dip In February As Battle Over Oil Wealth Continues

Michael Creg Afful
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Libya’s Oil Revenues Dip In February As Battle Over Oil Wealth Continues
Libya’s oil revenues fell in February to $1.26 billion, according to its National Oil Company, as repeated oilfield closures continue to weigh on the troubled African nation. The oil revenues were $330 million less than January levels, while overall oil production had actually increased by 23,000 bpd in February, according to OPEC’s March Monthly Oil Market Report. Oil production in Libya fell in January to 883,000 bpd from 949,000 bpd in December 2018, rising to 906,000 bpd in February. Libya’s oil production averaged 811,000 bpd in 2017 and 952,000 bpd in 2018. March production is expected to be lifted further. Libya continues to suffer from oilfield and port closures both due to inclimate weather and internal strife over who will control its great oil wealth that resulted in a force majeure over the last few months. Chairman of Libya’s NOC, Mustafa Sanalla, last month reiterated its plans to boost production to 2.1 million bpd by 2021 if—and that’s a pretty big if—it is able to improve its security situation. To this end, BP said last October that it and Eni would be returning to Libya for a bit of risky business with exploratory drilling sometime during Q1 2019. Sanalla confirmed that BP was still interested in exploring oil in western Libya near its border with Algeria, and stressed that there were no security concerns in this area. Other foreign oil companies that may disregard the substantial security risks include Total SA, Repsol SA, and OMV AG, Sanalla told Bloomberg a couple weeks ago. Libya’s NOC is currently developing a new security plan to safeguard production from its prolific Sharara oilfield that has been plagued with unrest for years. Its output should be more than 300,000 bpd. Source: oilprice.com
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