Ghana: ‘Go Off The National Grid If You Can’t Pay For Electricity Bills’ – Minister To Agitating Krobos

Ghana’s Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfuor, has suggested to agitating residents of Lower Manya Krobo area to go off the country’s national electricity grid if they feel they cannot pay bills. According to the Regional Minister, it is impossible for their demand for free electricity supply to be met therefore they must be ready to pay electricity bills presented to them by the country’s Power Distribution Services( PDS) or get off the National grid. “We are all Ghanaians, we are all human beings, we don’t want anybody to be mistreated. People should feel free and go about their duties legitimately. If you feel you cannot pay for electricity cut it off. It is optional, the only thing that Universally is free in Ghana now is Free SHS not electricity bill.” The Regional Minister said this on Thursday, 23rd May, 2019 during a stakeholders meeting following series of protests by power consumers in the Lower Manya Municipality that they were not going to pay for electricity bills because, Ghana’s first President late Dr Kwame Nkrumah promised them that they would enjoy free electricity, due to the fact the Akosombo Dam which gives Ghana about 900 MW of power is situated on their land. Interestingly, the residents also alleged that they are being over billed a claim officials of PDS have refuted. The Regional Minister noted that, there is no free energy any where in the world and that what government of Ghana has done is to reduce electricity tariff for various consumers. “Everybody, the Rich and Poor, you have to pay for electricity. Fuel has never been for free whether it is firewood or charcoal or solar or anything it is never free. Never in this world, I haven’t seen it before”. He has meanwhile ordered for the arrest of leaders of groups and individuals masterminding the riot in the area. Members of both REGSEC and MUSEC had meanwhile visited the Konor of Manya Krobo, Nene Sakitey to hold a close door meeeting with him . The Public Relations Officer of the Manya Krobo Traditional Council ,Nene Asada Ahor ,told the media Konor is not happy with the violent approach adopted by the youth adding that they did not channel their grievances through the traditional authority for diplomatic means to be use to have it addressed.

BBOXX Bags $8m Loan To Accelerate Solar Home Systems In Rwanda

Next generation utility, BBOXX, has secured an $8 million loan from the Facility for Energy Inclusion Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI OGEF). The local currency loan – one of the first to be made since the fund’s launch last year – accelerates BBOXX’s roll-out of solar home systems across Rwanda, its largest market. The Rwandan Franc-denominated loan enables the company to expand its operations and bring clean, reliable and affordable energy to many more individuals, communities, and SMEs previously living without it. To date, BBOXX has installed 80,000 solar home systems in customers’ homes and businesses across Rwanda. The innovative local currency loan mitigates the company’s medium-term FX related risks, as customers make mobile money payments in Rwandan Francs to pay for their solar electricity. Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and co-founder of BBOXX commented: “We are thrilled to have secured this loan from FEI OGEF to turbocharge our roll-out of solar home systems across Rwanda. It will help us to advance our goal of transforming lives and unlocking economic potential through access to energy.” He added: “With substantial operations in Rwanda already, this deal demonstrates confidence in our business model and our ability to scale and deliver much-needed reliable and affordable electricity, as the entry point to all other modern utilities.” Blended finance FEI OGEF is a $100 million blended finance debt fund that provides predominantly secured financing to support the growth of innovative companies in the off-grid energy sector. The fund is managed by LHGP Asset Management, the asset management arm of Lion’s Head Group. FEI OGEF is the off-grid window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) flagship initiative, Facility for Energy Inclusion. It has received funding from the AfDB, the Nordic Development Fund, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, and All-On Nigeria as well as debt financing from Calvert Impact Capital and the Prudential Insurance Company of America. Harry Guinness, managing director at Lion’s Head and OGEF Fund manager, said: “BBOXX has invested in the team, products, and infrastructure needed to achieve scale. With this transaction, FEI OGEF provides efficient, sustainable and scalable capital to catalyse the next stage of BBOXX’s growth in Rwanda and beyond.”

Ghana: ExxonMobil Declines To Give Reasons For Withdrawing From Oil Blocks Bidding

US oil giant ExxonMobil has declined to give explanation to the media about its decision to pull out from bidding for oil block it had applied for in the West African country, Ghana, in the ongoing Licensing Bid Round. According to the company, it does not comment on issues relating to its business to third parties. ExxonMobil and British Petroleum (BP) had earlier submitted applications for direct negotiations for blocks 5 and 6 respectively, which energynewsafrica.com understands ExxonMobil also applied for blocks 2,3 and 4. However, the two international oil companies pulled out at the embers. The government, through the Energy Ministry, earmarked five oil blocks for exploration. Three of the blocks-2, 3 and 4-were to go through competitive bidding process while two blocks-5 and 6-were supposed to be for direct negotiations. The deadline for the submission of bids for the blocks elapsed at 3pm today, May 21, 2019. However, at about 15:15 GMT on Tuesday, when the bids were opened in the presence of pressmen and representatives of some of the companies which were pre-qualified, ExxonMobil and British Petroleum were missing from the race. Chief Director at the Ministry of Energy Lawrence Apaalse, told the press that the Ministry received information from the two companies, requesting direct negotiations for blocks 5 and 6 that they were no longer interested in them. Energynewsafrica.com, therefore, called the Texas office of the company to make enquiries on why the company decided to withdraw from bidding for the oil blocks it had earlier applied for. In a response contained in an email sent to energynewsafrica.com Operations Media Manager for ExxonMobil Todd Spitler noted that the company does not comment on thirty party speculation or rumour. “Thank you for your inquiry. As a matter of practice, we do not comment on third party speculation or rumour,” he said.

Occidental To Remove CO2 From Air, Use It To Boost Oil Recovery In The Permian

A subsidiary of Occidental and Canadian clean energy company Carbon Engineering are teaming up to build the world’s biggest Direct Air Capture (DAC) and sequestration facility in the Permian that will suck carbon dioxide from the air to be later used in enhanced oil recovery. Occidental’s subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) and Carbon Engineering are proceeding with the engineering and design of this facility aimed at capturing 500 kilotons of carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere each year, which would be used in Occidental’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations and subsequently stored underground permanently, the companies said in a joint statement. In case the two companies approve the plant, construction is expected to start in 2021, and the plant is set to be operational some two years later. “Using atmospheric CO2 for oil recovery greatly reduces the net addition of CO2 to the atmosphere from oil production and fuel use, and opens a pathway to producing fully carbon-neutral or even net-negative fuels,” OLCV President Richard Jackson said. “These carbon removal technologies need to be deployed widely and at large enough scales to be climate-relevant,” Steve Oldham, CEO at Carbon Engineering, said. Carbon Engineering—a privately owned company funded by private investors, including Bill Gates and Murray Edwards—said last year that it had developed an affordable way to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into clean fuels. Not only are the scientists sucking CO2 out of the air, but they are also commercializing a process which uses water electrolysis and fuels synthesis to produce clean liquid hydrocarbon fuels that are drop-in compatible with existing transportation infrastructure. Occidental, for its part, is already using CO2 to enable low-cost EOR and will have a lot more Permian operations after it outbid Chevron and signed earlier this month an agreement to buy Anadarko in one of the largest deals in the oil industry in the past few years. Source: Oilprice.com

Withdrawal Of ExxonMobil And BP From Oil Blocks Bidding Disappointing-Energy Experts

Some players in the energy sector say the withdrawal of ExxonMobil and British Petroleum(BP) from the bidding process for oil blocks is disappointing. The two international oil companies had earlier submitted applications for direct negotiations for block 5 and 6 in the ongoing licensing bid round but pulled out at the embers. It is not clear yet why the two multinational companies decided to pull out at the last minute. Executive Director of KITE Ghana, Ishmael Agyekumhene says the withdrawal of the two, is unfortunate. “I wouldn’t know what informed their withdrawal, but the presence of those big companies sends a signal. Their presence in your bidding means you have arrived as an oil producing country. I just hope they come back in one way or the other,” he said. Executive Director of the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) Ben Boakye said irrespective of the withdrawal, the process should still continue with due diligence. “The disappointing part is that you have over 16 companies submitting applications and then later, it reduces to 3. Nobody is happy when the big guys leave the table. We at ACEP wished they were still in the process, but all the same, we hope the process continues.” But Energy analyst with the Institute of Energy Security, Mikdad Mohammed says, the withdrawal is not surprising. “It’s not a surprise, because I know they got data on the blocks they were bidding for. So maybe it could be that their assessment of the data, didn’t meet their criteria to continue with the bidding,” he explained. Meanwhile, ENI and Vitol, as well as Tullow Ghana Limited, submitted bids for block 3 with First E&P submitting bid for block 2. Source: 3news.com

Krobo: One Person Dead, 4 Police Personnel Injured As Residents Clash With Police

One person has reportedly died after police in Odumase-Krobo fired gun shots in a bid to disperse rioting youth of the area. Energynewsafrica.com also understands that four police personnel have been seriously injured, while a12-year-old girl had also been hit by a bullet in the knee. Twenty of the irate youth have reportedly been arrested and currently lying on the floor at the Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly. Reports reaching this portal indicate that the MCE for the area attempted to calm the angry residents, but they massed up to attack him but police quickly responded by firing gun shots in a bid to disperse them. Staff of PDS have since, last week, been embarking on what it described as intensive revenue mobilisation to retrieve monies owed them by residents of manya Krobo area. According to officials of PDS, residents of Krobo area have refused to pay for electricity bills since 2017. However, some residents of the area refused to allow PDS staff from collecting electricity bills or disconnecting residents from the national grid. Speaking on Accra-based Citi FM, Eastern Regional Police PRO, DSP Ebenezer Tetteh, confirmed reports of one person dying in the process of the riot. He added that the irate youth pelted the police with stones and other weapons. The deceased is yet to be identified

Krobo: We’ll Keep You In Darkness Until You Demonstrate Readiness To Pay Your Bills-PDS To Kpongunor

Ing. Joseph Forson Residents of Kpongunor in the Lower Manya Krobo will have to remain in darkness for a longer time, unless they resort to the use of other means of power to have lights. Power Distribution Services (PDS), the new electricity distribution company, on Monday, put off all the transformers that serve the area, following opposition from irate youth of Kpongunor not to allow staff of PDS from entering the community to undertake revenue mobilisation exercise to retrieve monies owed them. Reports indicated that the agitating youth mounted road blocks, threatening to lynch staff of PDS should they enter any house. The situation compelled staff of PDS to retreat to their offices. It would be recalled that some youth of Krobo, last year, attacked staff of the then ECG, forcing management to close the district office in the area. Since 2017, residents of Kroboland have refused to pay for electricity they have consumed over claims that the late Kwame Nkrumah promised their ancestors they would enjoy free electricity because their land was taken for the development of Kpong Thermal Project. In an interview with energynewsafrica.com, the Tema Regional Manager for PDS, Ing. Joseph Forson recounted events leading to the decision of PDS to cut power supply to the community. He said last week, the staff of PDS started what he described as intensive revenue mobilisation exercise within the Kroboland and continued the exercise on Monday. He said when staff of PDS, who were using the Kpong stretch of the road to enter Kpongunor got to a point, they realised that the youth had blocked the road and had put on red armbands and chanting war songs, despite the presence of the police. He continued that upon seeing the action of the irate youth, staff of PDS retreated to their offices but before leaving the community, they made sure they put off all the transformers serving the people of Kpongunor. Ing. Forson stated that his outfit would not restore power to the community until they become reasonable and accept responsibility to pay for the power they have consumed. “They will continue to be in darkness until they reason up. “We believe that as a company, as we’re serving you with electricity for you to enjoy, you must also be responsible to pay for the power you have consumed,” he stated. The Tema Regional PDS Manager expressed worry about the seeming unconcern posture taken by the opinion leaders in the community. In his view, the leaders in the community must be able to bring the youth to order if they want their electricity restored. According to him, PDS is not interested in disconnecting consumers arguing that it is the last resort.

ExxonMobil To Hold Annual Meeting of Shareholders On May 29

ExxonMobil will be holding its annual meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, the oil giant has announced. The meeting will be held at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel, 2222 North Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, Texas 75207, and will begin at 9:30 a.m. CDT. A release posted on the conmpany’s website it said: Media access will only be provided to authorized representatives of commercial news organizations who register by Friday, May 24, 2019. “Please note, only media who have registered before the deadline will be provided access to the annual meeting.” A webcast of the annual meeting (audio and presentation slides only) will also be carried live on www.exxonmobil.com.

99% Of BP Shareholders Back Climate Change Resolution

BP logo More than 99 percent of BP’s shareholders voted in favor of a climate change shareholder resolution on Tuesday, pushing the UK oil and gas supermajor to set out a business strategy consistent with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. BP, along with other oil majors, has been facing increased investor pressure to start addressing climate change risks and set emission reduction targets if the world is ever to achieve the Paris Agreement targets. At BP’s annual general meeting in Aberdeen on Tuesday, 99.14 percent of shareholders voted for the binding climate change resolution filed by investors acting as part of the Climate Action 100+ investor initiative, and supported by the BP board. “Investors will reserve judgement and expect BP’s response to be sufficiently robust. They will pay close attention to how it addresses emissions across its full value chain and expect to see clear evidence that any future material capex investment is consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Stephanie Pfeifer, a member of the global Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee and CEO at the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). Another, more stringent resolution calling for BP to include emissions of its customers in climate goals, was rejected by BP’s shareholders. Such customer-emission reporting is not supported by BP’s management either. Shell, for example, announced earlier this year its first-ever short-term goals to cut the carbon footprint of its operations and product sales. In December last year, in an industry first, Shell said that it plans to set short-term targets for reducing the net carbon footprint of the energy products it sells, and to link those targets with executive remuneration. However, Shell’s core business is and will continue to be oil and gas for the foreseeable future, the supermajor’s chief executive Ben van Beurden said last fall. “We aim play our part in the transition and to deliver on a strategy that is consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement,” BP’s chairman Helge Lund said at today’s shareholders meeting in Aberdeen, while climate change activists shouted “this is a crime scene” outside the building where the meeting was held. Source: Oilprice.com

Ghana: ExxonMobil And BP Withdraw From Bidding For Oil Blocks

Mr Lawrence Apaalse(standing) US oil giant, ExxonMobil and British Petroleum (BP) have pulled out from bidding for oil blocks in West African country, Ghana, in the ongoing Licensing Bid Round. The two International Oil Companies (IOCs) had earlier submitted applications for direct negotiations for block 5&6, but pulled out at the embers.It is not clear yet why the two multinational companies decided to pull out at the last minute. The government, through the Energy Ministry, earmarked six oil blocks for exploration. Three of the blocks-2, 3 and 4-were to go through competitive bidding process while two blocks-5 and 6-were supposed to be for direct negotiations. One of the block was reserved for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). The deadline for the submission of bids for the blocks elapsed at 3pm today, May 21, 2019. However, at about 15:15 GMT Tuesday, when the bids were opened in the presence of pressmen and representatives of some of the companies which were pre-qualified, ExxonMobil and British Petroleum were missing from the race. Chief Director at the Ministry of Energy Lawrence Apaalse, told the press that the Ministry received information from the two companies, requesting direct negotiations for blocks 5 and 6 that they were no longer interested in the blocks. Meanwhile, ENI and Vitol, as well as Tullow Ghana Limited, submitted bids for block 3 with First E&P submitting bid for block 2. However, there was no bid for block 4Interestingly, the ministry received about sixteen applications for direct negotiations. The original pool of companies that put in a bid for the 3 oil blocks include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Cairn Energy, Qatar Petroleum, Global Petroleum Group, First E&P, Sasol, Equinor and Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation. The rest include ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Tullow Ghana Limited, Total, ENI Ghana, Vitol, Kosmos Energy and Aker Energy.

NPA Bans LPG Operators From Discharging Products After 6pm

Mr. Hassan Tampuli The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has banned LPG operators from discharging LPG products into their storage tanks after 6pm. Henceforth, the petroleum downstream regulator wants LPG discharge to be done only during the day. The regulator has also directed that LPG discharge from Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) would be undertaken only in the presence of personnel from Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS). Additionally, LPG discharge using the pumps of BRVs are no longer permitted. These were recommendations by a committee the NPA composed to carry out thorough risk assessment of all LPG outlets nationwide. Chief Executive Officer of NPA, Mr Hassan Tampuli who made these recommendations known at the launch of 2019 Petroleum Safety Week organised by the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs), also mentioned that LPG refilling plants have been mandated to have standby electric pumps for discharge. He, therefore, encouraged the general public to report any non-compliant station or driver to the NPA to be dealt with in accordance with the law. Mr Tampuli revealed that his outfit had been directed by the Ministry of Energy to extend the risk assessment to all schools with LPG installations in the country. The first phase of the exercise, he said, would cover about 60 public secondary schools that have been identified to have such installations. The findings would determine which interventions should be put in place to prevent any LPG related incidents/accidents in schools. *Phasing out of reseller outlets* As a means of raising the bar in the standard of performance of PSPs, the NPA, Mr Tampuli said, is gradually phasing out reseller outlets (gau-gau) in the country. Currently, reseller outlets are not permitted to be located in urban areas but may be permitted in rural areas. “We wish to inform the general public that none of these reseller outlets in the metropolitan and municipal areas are authorised by the NPA. “We are, therefore, liaising with the security authorities to clamp down on all such reseller outlets,” he said. Mr Tampuli advised the general public to desist from patronising the services of these unbranded and unauthorised reseller outlets since their services including product quality, offered to consumers cannot be guaranteed. “We encourage the general public to rather patronise the over 3,000 licensed and branded retail outlets nationwide.”

Man, 60, Arrested For Tampering With Transformers At Adankwame

The Suame Division of the Ghana Police Service in Kumasi has arrested a 60 year-old electrician for damaging a transformer at Adankwame in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District leading to a cut in power supply to a section of the community. The suspect, Baba Smaila, has since been granted bail as the police continue with investigations into the case to arrest his accomplices. The Ashanti Regional Public Relations Manager, Power Distribution Service (PDS), Mr Erasmus Kyere-Baidoo, said tampering of transformers and other electrical equipment belonging to the PDS was becoming a challenge in the region. This, according to him, was affecting the smooth supply of power to their clients across the region and beyond and called on the general public to volunteer information so that the culprits could be arrested. Spoilt transformer Narrating the events leading to the arrest, he said about two weeks ago, a 200 kVA transformer serving a section of the Adankwame area got spoilt due to overloading. After reports got to the regional management team, it wrote to Accra for a new one to be installed to continue serving the people. While waiting for another transformer to be fixed, one of the five remaining transformers also got blown-up, plunging about 200 houses into darkness. Mr Kyere-Baidoo said when technical personnel of PDS visited the area to check the cause of the accident, some residents informed them that they suspected that Smaila had tampered with the transformer leading to the damage. According to them, the suspect charged Gh¢100 from residents of some houses which had power outages and then changed their electricity lines. They stated that this caused an overload on the transformer the lines were connected to, leading to the explosion of the second transformer. The PDS, Mr Kyere-Baidoo said, informed the Adankwame police who, with the help of some local residents, managed to arrest Smaila. After interrogation, Smaila admitted that he undertook the act with other people. Collaboration Mr Kyere-Baidoo expressed concern about the high incidence of tampering of electrical equipment in the region and said if it did not stop, the country would continue to spend huge sums of money replacing and repairing the damaged equipment. He appealed to the chiefs, assembly members and the general public to collaborate with the PDS to protect the transformers which were installed with huge sums of state resources. Source: graphic. com.gh

Oil Marketing Companies Resolute To Attain ‘Zero Injury’ -Agyeman-Duah

Kwaku Agyeman-Duah Chairman of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) Kwaku Agyeman-Duah says the association remains resolute in its quest to achieve ‘zero-injury’ target in all their filling station outlets. He said the issue of health and safety are now paramount to the association because of the rise in fire explosions in recent past, which had claimed lives in and around filling stations as well as destruction of properties. According to Mr Agyeman-Duah, their members have introduced a number of measures as part of efforts of preventing fire explosions including fixing devices that block mobile phones signal, when one attempts to make or receive call at filling stations. Ghana has recorded more than 200 deaths since 2014 with several others sustaining various degree of injuries in explosions at filling stations. Speaking at the launch of this year’s Petroleum Safety Week under the theme: ‘Leveraging Technology and Competence to Assure Safety at the Retail Outlet’, Mr Agyeman-Duah said: “We truly believe the cost of non-compliance to safety is more expensive than compliance.” Consequently, we have fashioned a process to ensure that all levels of our operational endeavours are fully imbibed in safety.” According to him, this includes peer review auditing to which the requisite logistics are in place to commence in the second half of the year. “We also have strengthened our communication strategy to include our fortnightly publications of our newsletter. We will like to encourage everyone here present, who has the knowledge, the skill and the motivation to assist us in this bid to make our operation ‘zero-injury’ a success to come on board,” he added. Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli commended the Association for consistently organising and hosting the AOMCs’ Safety Week Celebration which brings together key stakeholders with the objective of educating all on safety matters in the petroleum downstream industry. “As the chief servant of the regulator of the petroleum downstream industry, the NPA greatly applauds your commitment in the drive to ensure safety in the industry.”

Oil Marketing Companies Resolute To Attain ‘Zero Injury’ -Agyeman-Duah

Kwaku Agyeman-Duah Chairman of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) Kwaku Agyeman-Duah says the association remains resolute in its quest to achieve ‘zero-injury’ target in all their filling station outlets. He said the issue of health and safety are now paramount to the association because of the rise in fire explosions in recent past, which had claimed lives in and around filling stations as well as destruction of properties. According to Mr Agyeman-Duah, their members have introduced a number of measures as part of efforts of preventing fire explosions including fixing devices that block mobile phones signal, when one attempts to make or receive call at filling stations. Ghana has recorded more than 200 deaths since 2014 with several others sustaining various degree of injuries in explosions at filling stations. Speaking at the launch of this year’s Petroleum Safety Week under the theme: ‘Leveraging Technology and Competence to Assure Safety at the Retail Outlet’, Mr Agyeman-Duah said: “We truly believe the cost of non-compliance to safety is more expensive than compliance.” Consequently, we have fashioned a process to ensure that all levels of our operational endeavours are fully imbibed in safety.” According to him, this includes peer review auditing to which the requisite logistics are in place to commence in the second half of the year. “We also have strengthened our communication strategy to include our fortnightly publications of our newsletter. We will like to encourage everyone here present, who has the knowledge, the skill and the motivation to assist us in this bid to make our operation ‘zero-injury’ a success to come on board,” he added. Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Hassan Tampuli commended the Association for consistently organising and hosting the AOMCs’ Safety Week Celebration which brings together key stakeholders with the objective of educating all on safety matters in the petroleum downstream industry. “As the chief servant of the regulator of the petroleum downstream industry, the NPA greatly applauds your commitment in the drive to ensure safety in the industry.”