The Institute for Energy (IES) is predicting about 2.5 percent reduction in fuel prices on the local market in the first pricing window next month.
According to the IES, the next window may be a good time for consumers who have been battered with rising fuel prices over the past months.
The IES attributed the expected decline in fuel prices on the local market to the outbreak of deadly coronavirus in China, which has resulted in less demand for crude oil and for products made from crude oil such as jet fuel because of travel restrictions as well as stability of the Ghanaian cedi against the US dollar.
“The outbreak of the novel coronavirus comes at a particularly bad time for oil prices, which were already under duress from a global supply glut.
“The reduced economic activity in China means less demand for crude oil and for products made from crude oil such as jet fuel because of travel restrictions. Brent crude traded around 3 percent lower on Monday at US$58.88 a barrel, the lowest level since October last year. Brent crude decreased marginally by 4.66 percent from US$66.74 per barrel to close at US$63.63 per barrel on average terms during the period under review,” Raymond Nuworkpor, Research & Policy Analyst with IES said in a statement.
Below is the IES’ full statementLOCAL FUEL PRICES MUST FALL FOR CONSUMERS REVIEW OF JANUARY 2020 SECOND PRICING-WINDOWLocal Fuel Market Performance
Fuel prices experienced an increment in the Pricing-window under review as predicted by the Institute for Energy Security (IES). The Second Pricing-window of January 2020 saw majority of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) adjusting prices at the pump to record a national average price of Gh¢5.48 and Gh¢5.46 for Gasoil and Gasoline respectively. This represents an average of 2.24% and 1.87% increment for Gasoil and Gasoline respectively.
For the Pricing-window under review, Zen Petroleum, Benab Oil, Pacific, SO Energy and Alinco Oil sold the least-priced Gasoline and Gasoil on the local market relative to others in the industry, while Shell sold the most expensive Gasoil and Gasoline; as found by IES Market-scan.
World Oil Market
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus comes at a particularly bad time for oil prices, which were already under duress from a global supply glut.
The reduced economic activity in China means less demand for crude oil and for products made from crude oil, such as Jet fuel, because of travel restrictions. Brent crude traded around 3% lower on Monday at $58.88 a barrel, the lowest level since October last year. Brent crude decreased marginally by 4.66% from $66.74 per barrel to close at $63.63 per barrel on average terms during the period under review.
S&P’s Platts benchmark for fuels shows average Gasoline price decreasing by 5.69% to close at $587.68 per metric tonne, from a previous average of $623.13 per metric tonne; while Gasoil declined by 8.00% to close trading at $562.93 per metric tonne.
Local Forex
Data collated by IES Economic Desk from the Foreign Exchange market shows the Cedi remained stable against the U.S. Dollar, trading at an average price of Gh¢5.62 to the U.S. Dollar over the period under review; same rate of Gh¢5.62 recorded in the first Pricing-window.
PROJECTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 2020 FIRST PRICING-WINDOW
From the 4.66% decline in prices of Brent crude, coupled with the 8.00% and 5.69% considerable reduction in the prices of Gasoil and Gasoline respectively on the international market; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees prices of fuel on the local market dropping by roughly 2.5%.
The expected fall of fuel prices for consumers is a reflection of market fundamentals as accepted in a deregulated market structure.
The next Window may be a good time for consumers who have been battered with rising fuel prices over the past months.
Signed:
Raymond Nuworkpor
Research & Policy Analyst, IES
The cost of a multi- purpose dam project to be constructed at Pwalugu in the Upper East Region of the Republic of Ghana by the Akufo-Addo administration has generated controversy between the Minority and Majority Members of Parliament.
While the Minority believes the cost of the project is on the higher side and needed renegotiation, the Majority members, on the other hand, see nothing wrong with the cost, thus, rejected call for the renegotiation.
President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, on November 29, 2019, cut the sod for the construction of the Pwalugu multipurpose dam project.
The US$993 million project, which is being financed solely by the government, will consist of three main components namely, the construction of a hydropower plant, the construction of a solar farm and the establishment of an irrigation scheme covering an area of some 25,000 hectares.
The 60MW power generation component alone is expected to cost the taxpayer some US$366 million.
But, the Minority legislators believe the project is very expensive to the Ghanaian tax payer.
The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, said: “I think the proper thing will be for the Committee of Finance and the Committee of Mines and Energy to re-examine this particular request, other than that, you cannot spend 366 million dollars on 60 megawatts of electricity…Ideally, I made a comment that the appropriate thing will be for the committees to re-examine it. We do not just look at terms and conditions but we look at its impact on the economy and the Ghanaian people.”
However, the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, responding to concerns of his colleague, said the Minority’s concerns are misplaced.
He argued that the scope of the work to be done warrants the budgeted amount for the project.
“The Minority Leader raised some issues about the cost. On the face of it, one could agree except that when we had to do this Komenda sugar factory, it didn’t relate just to the factory. It related to the parcels of lands that were procured for the cultivation of sugarcane. It is the same thing for the Pwalugu factory. The amount procured is not only for the establishment of the factory but also the procurement of parcels of land and the irrigation to be relayed to all corners of the parcels of land,” he said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s electricity distribution and retail company, ECG, has attributed the recent power outages being experienced in certain parts of the country to what it described as systemic challenges in the upstream.
ECG is, therefore, appealing to the general public to report outages to the ECG call centre to enable them to expedite action on their concerns.
Some parts of the West African nation, especially in Accra notably: Spintex, Teshie, Dzorwulu, Adenta, Adjiringanor and Weija, have been experiencing intermittent and prolonged power outages.
However, speaking on Accra-based Class FM, Public Relations Manager for ECG, Theresa Osabutey, said the challenges faced by its partners in the electricity value chain, GRIDCo and the Volta River Authority (VRA), over which it has no control, were a major contributing factor to the outages.
“It is due to some system challenges that we had upstream. You know for us, ECG, we get the power and we distribute to our customers but we have other companies that help in the chain of the electricity business; and, so, if they’re having challenges, it will definitely impact us and some of the challenges are things that we do not have much control over”.
She continued that “When it is an outage that we’re going to carry out from ECG, you’ll bear with me that we carry out announcements to the public; we have various types of work that will demand outages, like we want to do maintenance and for that we know, and, so, we carry out announcements.”
She urged electricity consumers to call and report power outages to the ECG call centre to enable the distributor to work on their concerns, since it could be due to a localised fault.
“We always advise customers that any time you’re having such outages in your area, make us aware”, she said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Former Minister for Energy under the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP), Boakye Agyarko has refuted rumours making the rounds that he attempted to pick a form to contest President Akufo-Addo but was refused.
He described the rife rumour as a planned thing by some individuals to create confusion between him and the governing party ahead of the party’s presidential primaries in April 2020.
Two days ago, President Akufo-Addo picked a nomination form to seek re-election when the NPP goes to the polls in April 2020.
On the same day, some radio stations and even some NPP supporters rumoured that Boakye Agyarko also went to pick the party’s presidential nomination form but was refused.
Responding to a whatsApp message to him, Mr Boakye told energynewsafrica.com, that there is no iota of truth in what is making the rounds.
“The story is not true,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo relieved Boakye Agyarko of his post in 2018 in a circumstance that did not sit well with many members of the governing party and Ghanaians, considering his sterling performance in the country’s energy sector.
It was rumoured within the corridors of power, at that time, that Boakye Agyarko had shown interest to contest for the presidency.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Germany Government is supporting the Republic of Ghana with an amount of 6 million Euros to establish a 400 KW hybrid waste-to-energy (w2e) power plant to treat urban solid waste in the West African country.
The waste –to-energy power plant will sited in Atwima Nwabiagya in the Ashanti Region.
The project, is expected to help to address the menace of solid waste and also close the carbon cycle by developing the value chain of the process with the production and utilization of compost, which would be sold to farmers to boost agriculture and cut down on mineral fertilizer whilst improving the soil structure.
At a ceremony to launch the project in Accra, capital of Ghana, Ghana’s Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong –Boateng, said the Plant was expected to be built and operated within four years as a pilot, after which 10 or more are expected to be built within the next 10 to 20 years in different regions.
“We are involving all the universities that are engaged in energy production and the research institutions as well, who are expected to help lay the foundation that would help Ghana build its own energy systems in a few years’ time”, he said.
“It is an environmental and sanitation project, which would help us clean our environment and generate energy that would compromise solar and would involve various sector Ministries, including the Local Government, Agriculture, Education, Energy and Sanitation,’ he added.
The Minister described the project as a reflection of Ghana-German cooperation, which was also tightening relationship between the two countries.
He said the universities had a critical role to play to ensure that Ghana was able to turn its raw materials that were becoming a menace into a better source of alternative.
Mr Christoph Retzlaff, the German Ambassador said the project was being funded by the German government with an amount of six million Euros and would help create 50 new jobs in the Ashanti Region.
“We intend to partner our Ghanaian counterparts to set up 10 more hybrid waste to energy plants in Ghana and these would create about 1,000 new jobs in and be a sustainable solution for the waste disposable problems in the country” he said.
“It would save a lot of emissions and about 800,000 tonnes of harmful emissions could be save each year”.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The National Oil Company of Senegal, PETROSEN, has offered 12 oil blocks for exploration and production during the official launching of the country’s first ever offshore licensing round.
The launching took place at the MSGBC Basin Summit & Exhibition in Dakar, Senegal.
PETROSEN has planned series of events this year – in London on 20th February and in Houston on 25th February to whip up the appetite of investors.
Companies will be able to submit bids over the coming six months, with final applications delivered to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy at the latest by Friday, July 31st, 2020.
TGS, leading seismic data company is partnering with GeoPartners on an active 3D seismic acquisition to acquire additional regional data so that interested parties can gain greater subsurface understanding ahead of bid submissions.
This latest stand-alone survey (SN-UDO-19) is located in northern Senegal and is an extension to the recently completed SS-UDO-19 3D acquisition in southern Senegal.
The survey has been designed to illuminate plays in ultra-deep water, enabling explorers to build upon the success the basin has experienced with the Sangomar field, the GTA complex and Yakaar discoveries.
The SN-UDO-19 survey is over 70 percent complete, with fast track data available during the second quarter of 2020. The full data set will be available by Q4 2020.
The Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea Conakry (MSGBC) Basin is home to several recent high-profile oil and gas discoveries, both on and off the shelf.
The palaeo shelf-edge carbonate trend extending south of the Sangomar field and the expanse of prospective area outboard of this to the north and south have led many explorers to the region.
“The launch of Senegal’s landmark license round is a seminal moment in the nation’s hydrocarbon history. TGS is delighted to be able to support this initiative with a full complement of regional data sets that should help E&P companies to de-risk their exploration activities as they seek to take advantage of a world-renowned oil and gas basin,” Rune Eng, executive vice president, Southern Hemisphere at TGS, commented.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
US oil supermajor, ExxonMobil, and North African country, Egypt, have signed two oil and gas exploration deals in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Egyptian Ministry of Egypt has revealed.
According to a statement from Egypt’s petroleum ministry, the two exploration deals call for a total investment of at least US$332 million.
Last year, ExxonMobil said that it had acquired more than 1.7 million acres offshore Egypt, adding upstream interests to its downstream business in the country.
The US supermajor bought the 1.2-million-acre North Marakia Offshore block, five miles offshore Egypt’s northern coast and 543,000 acres in the North East El Amriya Offshore block in the Nile Delta.
ExxonMobil, which will be the operator of both blocks with 100-percent interest, plans to start exploration operations this year.
Exxon’s foray into Egypt’s upstream comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus are at odds over Turkey’s claim to natural gas resources recently discovered offshore Cyprus.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Power supply in Kasoa and its surrounding communities in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana, is expected to see significant improvement in some months’ time, energynewsafrica.com can report.
This is due to plans by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) to commence the construction of a 435 MVA Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) Bulk Supply Point at Kasoa, from January 31, 2020.
The project, which is expected to be completed within 18 months, is being funded by the United States Government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
The Kasoa BSP, when completed, will be the second largest BSP in the country after the Pokuase BSP, which is currently under construction.
The project will, among other things, reduce the transmission and distribution system losses suffered by GRIDCo and ECG respectively and would ultimately improve the operational and financial performance of the utilities.
Martin Eson-Benjamin, CEO of MiDA speaking at a three day pre-handing over meeting with some stakeholders
In a statement issued and copied to energynewsafrica.com, MiDA said ahead of the site handover to the contractor for the start of construction works, it had started a three-day meeting with Siemens, a French company which has been awarded the contract for the project.
The statement said the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), both direct beneficiaries of the sub-station, Project Engineers SMEC PTY, representatives of the MCC led by Ms Elizabeth Feleke, Deputy Resident Country Director, and other consultants on the project participated in the meeting.
Martin Eson-Benjamin, CEO of MiDA, in his remarks at the opening of the meeting, said: “This critical asset is needed to improve services in order to meet the increasing demands of commerce, industry and numerous domestic consumers located in the very fast growing Kasoa Municipality and its environs.”
He added that the BSP would help “boost socio-economic activities and support the government’s development agenda planned for the municipality.”
The Kasoa BSP forms part of the activities under the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround (EFOT) project.
The project seeks to make investments in ECG’s network in order to reduce technical, commercial and collection losses and improve service quality.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator, NPA has signed a technical cooperation agreement with K-Petro of South Korea as part of its effort to ensure fuel quality and distribution management systems.
The Chief Executive Officer of NPA, Hassan Tampuli and Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of petroleum, signed on behalf of the Authority while Son Joo-Suk, CEO of K-Petro, did same for his organisation.
Ghana’s Deputy Head of Mission, Dr Joseph Agoe witnessed the signing ceremony.
Other members of the NPA’s team included Mr Simeon Tawiah, Member of the NPA Governing Board, Hawa Ajei, Director of Legal and Mr Theophilus Mohenu, Director of Quality Assurance.
It would be recalled that NPA and K-Petroleum, in April last year, signed an MoU to work together to promote quality petroleum products while contributing to efforts to curb carbon emissions.During that signing of the MoU, K-Petro agreed to assist the NPA with the needed support to improve mechanisms for promoting petroleum quality and distribution in the country.“We are committed to contributing to climate change and this signing is another demonstration of our commitment,” Son Joo-Suk, CEO of K-Petroleum said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s power distribution and retail company, ECG, has recovered GH¢9,439,996.01 from customers engaged in illegal connection of power in the Accra East Region.
The amount represents penalties and surcharges leveled against customers who were caught using electricity without lawful authorization in 2019, and the money represents a 53 percent increase over the 2018 figure of GH¢6,168,151.45.
Those who were caught in the illegal act by the Revenue Protection Unit of ECG included; hotel operators, restaurants, manufacturing companies, cold stores, pubs, and other notable individuals.
The illegal act was detected in Makola, Legon, Roman Ridge, Teshie, Kwabenya, Dodowa, and Mampong.
The Manager of the Revenue Protection Unit of the Accra East Region, Jonathan Asante, told pulse.com.gh, that the region detected and mainstreamed 4.11 gigawatts (GWh) of energy which the company would have lost in 2019, and that the energy recovered in gigawatts represents a significant leap in the revenue fortunes of the company.
He said, “The units retrieved in 2019 represent payments made to the company by defaulters which amounted to the sum of GH¢9,439,996.01 million and reflected a percentage increase of 53 from the 2018 figure of GH¢6,168,151.45 million.”
The founding President and CEO of policy think-tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has urged the Akufo-Addo-led administration to support Ghana’s strategic stock oil company, BOST, financially to be able to achieve its strategic plan.
In his view, the government should be more interested in supporting BOST financially to turn the company’s fortunes around instead of supporting the country’s Electoral Commission (EC) to waste US$140 million on compiling what he described as needless electoral roll.
Mr Cudjoe, in a piece shared on social media and a subsequent interview with energynewsafrica.com, argued that he had seen the strategic documents of BOST which suggest that they could turn the company around if they received US$75 million financial support.
“I have seen their strategic documents that suggest that if they got that money, they could easily turn things around,” he said.
BOST has a legacy debt of about $60 million and this has affected its ability to attract investors.
At a recent media conference in Accra, capital of Ghana, Managing Director of BOST, Edwin A. Provencal called on the government to support the company to clear the debt to pave way for the company to attract investors.
Mr Cudjoe noted that the interventions being put in place by BOST to cut wastage in a bid to ensure efficiency in the past six months have made him to believe that if there are no interferences from the energy sector and the state powers, BOST could be making significant gains.
“One thing that can be done in the interim is to avoid wasteful enterprises such as $150 million on a needless purchase of electoral infrastructure for compilation of the voter register, and give BOST $75M. If BOST fails to out compete the private bulk oil distributors in year 3, I will campaign for it to die,” he stated.
Below Is Franklin Cudjoe’s Full Post
BOST is one state institution whose existence is at the mercy of the more competitive private bulk oil distributors. I have had little faith in state-run entities like BOST.
However, I have seen the BOST strategy to pay its humongous politically accrued legacy debts and return to profitable ways within five years.
Some executive decisions have been taken in the past six months to root out self-serving projects created by old and crooked agents and assigns, discarded previous plans to raise wages astronomically and now needs $70m to have a semblance of an institution that may break even.
I wouldn’t give them my money, assuming I had that much unless I see a signed undertaken by the appointing authority of the BOST leadership that it would not interfere unnecessarily in the affairs of BOST.
One thing that can be done in the interim is to avoid wasteful enterprises such as $150m on a needless purchase of electoral infrastructure for compilation of the voter register, and give BOST $75M. If BOST fails to out compete the private bulk oil distributors in year 3, I will campaign for it to die.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria has lifted first crude oil from the Otakikpo oil field in the West African nation’s offshore, energynewsafrica.com can report.
The Otakikpo oil field is operated by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL) with Lekoil as its technical partner.
Lekoil said on Monday that the first crude oil lifting of this year from the Otakikpo Marginal Field in OML 11 was completed on Friday, January 25.
The nominated offtaker was Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited, a member of the Royal Dutch Shell group of companies.
The company said that the cash proceeds from this crude oil lifting amounted to US$7 million.
According to the company, the next lifting of a similar quantity is expected to occur within the next four to six weeks.
It is worth stating that production from Otakikpo averaged 5,305 bopd gross for the full-year 2019.
For the first twenty days of this year, production at Otakikpo averaged 5,860 bopd gross.
Lekoil added that the planned phased development plan for the Otakikpo project, which consists of drilling between five and seven new wells, would be financed by a project finance debt facility.
To remind the Otakikpo, JV executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Schlumberger and a subsidiary of a major international oil company for the expansion project which has the potential to increase production on the field up to 20,000 bopd.
“Otakikpo continues to provide steady production and cashflow for Lekoil. We are delighted with the collaborative progress being made by all parties towards the development and transformation project planned for Otakikpo that is aimed at increasing production from the field. We remain fully-focused to generate value on this asset for all shareholders,” Lekan Akinyanmi, Lekoil CEO, said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) have pledged to partner on ways to bolster production activities in the West African nation’s oil and gas sector.
According to Economicconfidential.com, the resolution was reached when the Chairman of PETAN, Mr. Bank Anthony Okoroafor, led members of the Association’s executive to meet with the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.
Speaking at the meeting, Mallam Mele Kyari reportedly said it was not possible for the industry to thrive without local service providers, stressing that there was therefore the need to ensure the development of local capacity.
He continued that NNPC was working in concert with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the National Assembly to facilitate the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill before the end of the second quarter of 2020 in order to provide clarity and certainty to investors with a view to stemming the trend of dwindling Exploration and Production activities in the sector.
“While work on the PIB is going on, we are engaging with the IOCs to resolve some of the commercial processes to make sure that these businesses continue. That was how we were able to deliver the Train 7 FID. We are working on the Bonga South project and a number of projects that you listed. I know that our partners are ready to do business with us. That way, exploration work will spring back, I am very optimistic about that”, the GMD said.
He charged member companies of PETAN to be ethical in their transactions and pledged to support the Association in its objective of growing local capacity in the oil and gas sector.
On his part, PETAN Chairman, Mr. Bank Anthony Okoroafor, pledged the Association’s support to help NNPC meet the target production growth of 3million barrels per day and 40billion barrels reserves by 2023. He also commended the GMD for his efficient leadership of the Oil and Gas Industry which has yielded great results such as the signing of the NLNG Train 7 FID and the resolution of the Shell-Belema Oil dispute.
High point of the occasion was the decoration of the GMD with the PETAN brooch to mark his induction as an honourary member of the association.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Siemens has signed a deal to acquire C&S Electric, one of India’s leading providers of electric equipment for power generation, T&D and infrastructure.
New Delhi-based C&S Electric will be bought for around $294 million in an agreement that comprises its low-voltage switchgear components and panels, low and medium-voltage power busbars, plus its protection and metering businesses.
Siemens says the acquisition will strengthen its position in India as a supplier of low-voltage power distribution and electrical installation technology.
Sunil Mathur, chief executive of Siemens (India), said the addition of C&S Electric will bolster the company’s portfolio in India as well as export to competitive international markets in line with its growth strategy.
The scope of the acquisition comprises the Indian operations of C&S Electric’s low-voltage switchgear components and panels, low and medium voltage power busbars as well as protection and metering devices businesses.
Other businesses of the company such as medium voltage switchgear and package sub-station, lighting, diesel generating sets, EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) and the Eta-com busbars business will be retained by the owners.
During that signing of the MoU, K-Petro agreed to assist the NPA with the needed support to improve mechanisms for promoting petroleum quality and distribution in the country.
“We are committed to contributing to climate change and this signing is another demonstration of our commitment,” Son Joo-Suk, CEO of K-Petroleum said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com 
Mr Cudjoe noted that the interventions being put in place by BOST to cut wastage in a bid to ensure efficiency in the past six months have made him to believe that if there are no interferences from the energy sector and the state powers, BOST could be making significant gains.
“One thing that can be done in the interim is to avoid wasteful enterprises such as $150 million on a needless purchase of electoral infrastructure for compilation of the voter register, and give BOST $75M. If BOST fails to out compete the private bulk oil distributors in year 3, I will campaign for it to die,” he stated.
Below Is Franklin Cudjoe’s Full Post
BOST is one state institution whose existence is at the mercy of the more competitive private bulk oil distributors. I have had little faith in state-run entities like BOST.
However, I have seen the BOST strategy to pay its humongous politically accrued legacy debts and return to profitable ways within five years.
Some executive decisions have been taken in the past six months to root out self-serving projects created by old and crooked agents and assigns, discarded previous plans to raise wages astronomically and now needs $70m to have a semblance of an institution that may break even.
I wouldn’t give them my money, assuming I had that much unless I see a signed undertaken by the appointing authority of the BOST leadership that it would not interfere unnecessarily in the affairs of BOST.
One thing that can be done in the interim is to avoid wasteful enterprises such as $150m on a needless purchase of electoral infrastructure for compilation of the voter register, and give BOST $75M. If BOST fails to out compete the private bulk oil distributors in year 3, I will campaign for it to die.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
