CNOOC Boosts Profit In 1H 2019
CNOOC Limited has increased its oil and gas production by over 2 percent during the first half of the year and boosted its profit for the period as oil and gas sales rose by 4.4 percent.
In its report for the six months ended June 30, 2019, released on Thursday, CNOOC said it had increased oil and gas reserves and production levels.
The company’s amount of exploration and development activities reached a record high and, in the first half of the year, 16 new discoveries were made and 35 successful appraisal wells were drilled.
Among them, the appraisal of Bozhong 19-6 condensate gas field in Bohai, China achieved successes, adding proved in-place volume of exceeding 100 million tons of oil equivalent, and providing a strong resource foundation for sustainable development of Bohai.
In Stabroek block off Guyana, three new discoveries were made and the recoverable resources were further expanded to more than 6.0 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).
The Glengorm discovery in the North Sea announced at the beginning of the year was proved to be the largest oil and gas discovery in U.K. in the past decade.
Production up in 1H 2019
Oil and gas production remained stable in the first half of the year, with a net production of 243 million BOE, representing an increase of 2.1% year on year.
Among the six new projects scheduled to start production this year, the Egina oilfield, Huizhou 32-5 oilfield comprehensive adjustment/Huizhou 33-1 oilfield joint development project and Appomattox project have started production in the first half of the year.
During the period, the company’s all-in-cost fell below $30 per BOE, reaching $28.99, representing a decrease of 8.9% year on year.
The company’s capital expenditure was RMB 33.7 billion, representing an increase of 60.5% year on year.
Oil and gas sales reached RMB 94.28 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.4%; net profits amounted to RMB 30.25 billion; and earnings per share was RMB 0.68, representing a significant increase of 18.7% year on year.
Yang Hua, Chairman of CNOOC Limited, commented: “In the first half of 2019, with determined efforts to develop the company’s business through innovation, the management and staff devoted efforts in exploration and development activities through a pragmatic and enterprising approach, successfully increased oil and gas reserves and production levels achieving outstanding results in high-quality development.”
Source: Offshoreenergytoday.com
Mozambique: Temane Regional Electricity Project Secures Funding
The Government of Mozambique, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) and its project partners have announced that funding for the development of the Temane Regional Electricity Project (TREP), has been secured.
Project partners including Globeleq, eleQtra, and Sasol celebrated the agreement of various grants, loans and guarantees for the transmission line and substation components of the TREP.
In a company statement, Globeleq explained that this was agreed with a group of development financing institutions, including the World Bank, the Government of Norway (through the Norwegian Trust Fund managed by the World Bank), Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank, and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
The Development Bank of Southern Africa is currently finalising its financing agreements with the Government.
The project involves the construction of a 400kV high voltage transmission line, stretching from Vilanculos to Maputo, along with three new substations at Vilanculos, Chibuto and Matalane and upgrades to the Maputo substation.
The transmission line will then connect to the new 420MW gas-fired power plant to be constructed at Temane, for which a separate financing process is currently underway.
Gas will be supplied by Sasol and ENH from the PSA gas field and electricity will be sold to EDM under a 25-year tolling agreement.
Together, the power plant and transmission line will bring in $1.4 billion in new investment into the Mozambican power sector.
The total funding facility of nearly $543 million for the transmission line and related substations (the Temane Transmission Project), includes a $300 million grant from the World Bank; a $24 million grant from the Norwegian Trust Fund; a further $33 million grant provided by the African Development Bank; a $99.7 million lease and loan through the Islamic Development Bank; and a contribution from OFID of $36 million.
In addition, the total funding facility is expected to secure a $50 million loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) in partnership with the European Union through its Infrastructure Investment Programme South Africa (IIPSA).
The DBSA’s loan facility was approved by its Board of Directors, with the funding agreements currently being under negotiation and finalisation. In addition, the World Bank has also committed a guarantee of $120 million in support for the wider TREP project.
The World Bank Country Director for Mozambique, Mark Lundell commented on behalf of all of the participating DFI’s involved with the project’s funding: “It is fundamental to developing the Mozambican domestic power system, expanding energy access, and ensuring the secure, affordable, and sustainable power supply that is one of the key drivers of Mozambique’s economic and social development.”
“We are extremely pleased to be working with the Government and our partners, EDM and Sasol, on the Temane project,” commented Globeleq’s CEO, Paul Hanrahan, speaking on behalf of the Temane Energy Consortium which is developing the Temane power plant. “Securing the financing agreements for the transmission portion of the project builds incredible confidence amongst private investors. The Temane power plant will provide reliable baseload power at an extremely competitive price for the benefit of the people of Mozambique.”
EDM’s Chairman, Aly Sicola Impija, said, “Signing of these financing agreements represents a significant step forward in realising this important project, thereby contributing to the Government’s goals of universal access by 2030 and positioning of Mozambique as a regional energy hub.”
Sasol’s Managing Director for Mozambique, Ovidio Rodolfo, added: “Sasol is committed to contributing meaningfully to the industrialisation ambitions of Mozambique.
“We celebrate the success in securing financing support for the transmission portion of TREP and are proud to be working with our partners, EDM and the Globeleq consortium in realising this important initiative.”
Ghana: Government To Outdoor Action Policy To Protect Ghana In Awarding Petroleum Contracts
Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated government’s commitment to introduce policies that will protect Ghana’s oil and gas industry in order to benefit Ghanaians.
The vice president was hopeful an action policy will soon be announced by the regulator—the Petroleum Commission to protect the country’s interest when giving out oil blocks to multinational companies.
Speaking on the issue at the 11th International Upstream Forum held in Accra, Dr. Bawumia explained that government will use the regulators in the industry to protect the interest of Ghanaians.
“We realize that the business case of the international oil companies and the regulator may not always converge,” he said adding that “the challenge for the regulator is how to reconcile both objectives”.
He maintained that government will ensure that the industry continue to attract the needed investments for exploration and production and at the same time achieve the public goals.
Dr. Bawumia stressed that government’s ultimate goal is to utilize the country’s scarce resources prudently to improve the lives of Ghanaians.
Petroleum Commission
Touching on the action policy for the petroleum upstream sector, the Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille Junior stated that the new action policy which is in its final stages will soon be outdoored to strengthen Ghana’s position in giving out oil blocks.
He observed that the policy will consolidate all laws in the petroleum upstream sector, while accessing similar action policies used by member countries of the International Upstream Forum.
On his part, the Minister for Energy, John Peter Amewu maintained that the ministry will continue to review the country’s energy policies to make sure it is in tandem with modern laws.
International Upstream Forum
Ghana is the first African country to host the International Upstream Forum.
This year’s forum brought together countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, U.S Norway, Australia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ivory Coast.
The purpose of hosting the event according to the organizers is position Ghana among oil-producing countries to access processes that have been used by some of these nations.
Background
In a bid to make Ghana the petroleum hub in the West African sub-region, government invited multinational companies to establish their headquarters in Ghana.
Some petroleum analysts have however warned that the country must position itself properly to negotiate in favour of its citizens before releasing oil blocks to these multinational companies.
Source: citinewsroom.com
It’s Africa’s Time To Be Smart And Know The Value Of It’s Assets – Alex Mould
I was in a conference in UK when I was once told that Africa must be worrisome of China’s intentions when they give out these seemingly ridiculously ‘cheap’ loans.
I thanked the speaker for that advice and responded by saying “I wished my ancestors had had this same advice when his ancestors came bearing what seemed like ‘gifts’ in the 1400s”.
There is generally more “bashing” of Chinese investment going on these days. From the U.S-China trade war, to other recent happenings in the global economy, there has been a negative spotlight on China’s investments; I don’t know why nor who is promoting this.
The bottom-line is that Africa needs long term investment (money) at low rates to develop its much needed infrastructure. This development is the catalyst for economic growth – roads, bridges, and power to help industrialize. Also needed are support processes for most of the raw materials that abound naturally on the continent, and the development of schools and hospitals required to improve our standard of living.
Generally speaking however, the source of investment money is not usually the problem; the investment terms are.
Good investments must lead to increase in revenue from the cash flow either directly from the investment, or indirectly from the cash flow from some derivative of the investment. If that is not the case, then the project presents a negative Net Present Value which needs to be subsidized from some other form of revenue.
The lender or investor- in this case China, would have mitigated that risk by asking for some alternate source of payment from some other assets that generates less risky cash flows like some exports – as in the case of the Bui Dam and the Atuabo Gas project’s which received payments from our cocoa and from our oil respectively which China ensures by being the off taker.
The West, who have been Africa’s trading partners for ages (since the 1400s and who have benefitted tremendously from that trade), have not been forthcoming with the partnership Africa needed to grow its economy in the high single digits as needed for us to achieve middle income status.
They have found whatsoever excuses not to get their development banks to assist African countries; citing many things like demand/supply issues, bad governance, instability, corruption etc. Which, don’t get me wrong are all legitimate reasons not to lend to a country; more especially when you don’t want to lend.
Noteworthy is the fact that, building a refinery in Africa or industries to process our raw materials will mean closing down many industries in the West, thereby reducing their GDP and loss of jobs which would result in economic slowdown in those parts of the world. They could also ensure that we don’t build these industries that produce finished goods or value added raw materials by imposing tariffs on our goods, and going into price wars etc.
So, mildly put, Africa has not been in an advantageous position in this negotiation with the West; and to be blunt, Africa has been at the mercy of the West and has become very frustrated.
Then come the Chinese who now need secure sources of raw material for their industries to achieve their quest to be the manufacturing hub of the world and soon, the world’s largest economy. As such, this lucrative trade bloc, Africa, is being courted to achieve their objective – to be the preferred trading Partner i.e. moving that cherished position from the West to the East.
The Chinese, who are cash rich and are already heavily invested in the West – own 20-25% of all US Treasuries – have a diversified investment portfolio and can use their development banks – CBD and China EXIM – to facilitate this trade with Africa, by giving the much needed long term loans to fulfil Africa’s quest for development and economic growth.
The downside to this is; African countries are not prioritizing their projects based on the sound criteria any investment firm would – i.e. spend the money on projects that will be a catalyst for their economies directly or indirectly, rather than just nice-to-have projects.
And, the catch here is that the Chinese are not running your governments nor are they responsible for the decision on what project should be prioritized, or which project is best for your economy. If the project meets the Chinese lending criteria and the African countries agree to the terms & conditions – representations, conditions precedent and continuing, covenants, default clauses and remedies- the loans will be drawn down.
The fix – the Western world ought to insist African countries abide by all the ‘good governance’ principles that are universally prescribed to. This includes the opportunity for the people of the country to question all these nice-to-have projects which government; whose existence government always explains away with flimsy reasons. With little or no project monitoring and reporting mechanisms for the citizens to evaluate if these projects were truly beneficial to the country.
All loans (and especially Grants and Aid) are done to the benefit of the donor or lender countries. Yet Africa is in a unique and good position to negotiate with the West by courting the East.
Several examples of this advantage abound. For instance, when Ghana was given a 10-year loan by China to build the Atuabo processing plant, the World Bank all of a sudden became interested in advancing money to Ghana, and it then became a policy to approve.
Obama’s Power Africa Initiative – to fund power in Africa- was not purely a kind gesture of an Africa-American president wanting to give back, it arose from the policy to curb China’s grip on Africa’s trade.
So, it is Africa’s time to be smart and to know the value of its assets, which the West need so badly. We need to appreciate every competitive advantage we have, and use it as a strength in formulating our trade and foreign policy.
The writer is a former CEO of GNPC and a financial analyst
Saudi Aramco Sells Its First-Ever West Texas Light Crude In Trading Push
Aramco Trading has sold its first-ever West Texas Light (WTL) cargo as part of Saudi Aramco’s ambition to become a top oil trader, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing four people with knowledge of the matter.
According to sources, Aramco Trading Company has sold the 1-million-barrel cargo of WTL to South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank, with which the Saudi oil giant
signed earlier this year an agreement to buy a 17-percent stake.
The Saudi Aramco-controlled Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, has been selling U.S. crude grades to Aramco Trading for the Saudi trading unit to re-sell them on the Asian market, Reuters’ sources said.
Aramco Trading has boosted sales of very light crudes, such as WTL, to South Korea in recent months, after the Korean refiners had to stop imports of condensate from Iran due to the U.S. sanctions, trade sources told Reuters.
Meanwhile, the national oil companies (NOCs) of OPEC’s largest producers are thinking long term and vying for a large slice of the oil trading pie. The NOCs in the Middle Eastern producers are already competing with the largest independent oil traders including Vitol, Trafigura, Glencore, Mercuria, and Gunvor.
Saudi Aramco—the top oil producer in the world and the Kingdom’s state giant—has started to expand its oil trading business, aiming to be a top oil trader to open new avenues of sales for its oil and to make sure that Saudi crude will have a market for as long as the world needs oil, which, Aramco believes, will be for decades and decades to come.
Aramco Trading is aggressively expanding its business, rising from 300,000 bpd in sales when it was set up in 2012, to 4.5 million bpd now. The Saudi giant aims to further boost the trading volume to 6 million bpd by the end of 2020, Aramco’s senior vice president of Downstream, Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi, told Reuters in May.
Ghana: What New BOST MD Should Do To Succeed
The Executive Director of Institute for Energy Security in the Republic of Ghana, Paa Kwasi Anamua Sakyi, believes the newly appointed Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited, Edwin A. Provencal, can only succeed in his position if he adheres to these four key points.
In his view, the first thing the new MD should do is to be a quick learner by getting abreast with operations of BOST very fast, knowing very well that his background is more of telecommunication.
Speaking on Accra-based Oman Fm, Anamua Sakyi said the new MD should also be a man of his own capacity as in thoughts and actions, although he was politically appointed.
“At BOST, if the workers get to know that you don’t know what you’re about, everybody will become your special advisor. And they are going to give you both good and bad advice,” he said.
The third thing the IES boss said Edwin Provencal should do is to unite the staff’s front and manage their political and personal interest, by seeking to get them into a national interest for their own good.
He explained that BOST is polarised because of political elements in the company.
Lastly, Anamua Sakyi said Edwin Provencal should set a strategic goal for the company within the stated mandates, stressing that when the staff realised that he has vision, they will support him.
He cautioned that failure to do these would be difficult for him to succeed.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Two Filling Station Robbers Arrested In Winneba
Police in Winneba in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana are on a manhunt for two suspects who were among a gang of four that robbed and killed a security guard at the Glory Oil fuel filling station in Winneba.
Two of the gang members, John Okechuku; a Nigerian national, and Mamady Unkromah; a Guinean, are currently in the grip of the Winneba District Police Command.
Speaking in an interview with Accra- based Citi FM, the Winneba District Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Godfrey Tetteh Adjirakor narrated that on July 26, 2019, police in Winneba received a distress call from a filling station attendant of an alleged robbery incident.
“When Police got to the scene, they found the body of a 55-year-old security guard, Jones Bortey lying in a prone position with both hands and legs tied with a sponge and an amount of GHc1,747.00 missing from one of the drawers,” Chief Superintendent Godfrey Tetteh Adjirakor said.
According to the Police commander, upon further inspection of the body, police found a deep cut on the right jaw and a cut on the right ear of the deceased.
He indicated that the Police Patrol team on that same day mounted a search and arrested five individuals adding that the Police found four mobile phones on the spot including that of the deceased security guard.
“When we interrogated them, one of the suspects, John Okechuku, a 33-year-old Nigeria national identified one of the exhibit phones as his including that of the deceased security man,” the Police Commander said.
He indicated that upon further interrogation, John Okechuku confessed that they were four Nigerians who had come to Winneba from Accra to rob.
The Police Commander cautioned the general public to be wary of suspicious characters and volunteer information to the police when necessary.
“I also want to tell filling station owners to at least get a licensed weapon which must be brought to the Police station for examination as well as the individual who will be using it,” Chief Superintendent Godfrey Tetteh Ajirakor said.
Ghana: PIAC Calls For Accountability On Oil Revenue Usage
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), an independent statutory body mandated to promote transparency and accountability in the management of petroleum revenues in the Republic of Ghana has raised concerns with the overall management of the country’s oil revenue, calling on the government to publicly explain how the money was being used.
According to PIAC, although the country’s law states that 70 per cent of the revenue should go into capital expenditure, the chunk of the money was rather going into consumption.
Addressing a forum of editors at Senchi in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region on the management and use of petroleum revenues for 2018 last Saturday, Dr Manteaw who is the Chairman of PIAC, said it was wrong for the government to use oil revenue to fund the implementation of the free Senior High School (SHS) programme, which he considered to be a consumable.
He said if the current trend was not curtailed, the country’s oil reserves would get depleted while Ghana would have nothing to show for the oil discovery.
Dr Manteaw said although he was not against the implementation of the free SHS programme, he disagreed with the use of the oil money to fund the policy, adding that it contravened the dictates of the Petroleum Management Act.
He also wondered where all the revenue for the oil had gone since the government continued to maintain that the money had not been utilised.
Buttressing his case with facts, he said in 2017, out of the total oil money transferred to the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), USD$403 million was not utilised, adding that in 2018, another USD$252 million which was transferred to the fund was also not utilised.
Dr. Manteaw said per the explanation from the Ministry of Finance, the money had been lodged into treasury accounts although there were no documentations to prove that claim.
In his view, any unspent oil money in the ABFA account should be returned to the Petroleum Holding Fund (PFH) to ensure proper accountability of the country’s oil revenue.
Nigeria Fights To Keep Assets From Seizure In $9B Gas Project Row
Nigeria will fight to protect government assets from the possibility of a US$9-billion court-granted seizure over a gas project dispute, the country’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed has said.
Ten days ago, a UK court granted the company Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) the right to go after some US$9 billion assets owned by the Republic of Nigeria, after the firm had won earlier an arbitration award over a failed project for a gas processing plant in Africa’s largest oil producer.
Back in 2010, P&ID and the Nigerian government struck a deal under which Nigeria would provide gas to a processing plant that the company would build and operate in Calabar, southern Nigeria.
The deal failed and the company took Nigeria to an arbitration court in 2012 over the failed agreement. P&ID was awarded US$6.6 billion—now the award, including interests accrued, tops US$9.6 billion, Andrew Stafford, Q.C. of Kobre & Kim, which represents P&ID, told Reuters earlier this month.
The sum is not a negligible amount for Nigeria—it equals roughly 20 percent of the West African country’s currency reserves, according to Reuters.
After receiving the go-ahead from a UK judge to go after the award, the company planned to start the process of seizing asses from Nigeria, Stafford said in the middle of August.
Now Nigeria—which has argued that the UK is not the venue for such court decision and that the award is “manifestly excessive”—vows to protect any government assets from a possible seizure.
“The federal government is taking all necessary steps to appeal the decision of the UK Court, to seek a stay of execution of the decision, to defend its rights and to protect the assets of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Information Minister Lai Mohammed said today, as carried by Reuters.
Ghana: Vice President Of Liberia Visits Sunon Asogli Power Plant
Management of Ghana’s independent power producer, Sunon Asogli Power led by the Chairman Mr Yang Qun and staff on Saturday, 10th of August 2019 welcomed the Vice President of the Republic of Liberia Dr Jewel Taylor and Mrs. Genevieve Kennedy, Ambassador of the Republic of Liberia to Ghana.
They were accompanied by Togbe Afede XIV.
“As Ghana is celebrating its Year of Return, Dr. Jewel Taylor visited Ghana with her delegation to attend the HACSA summit and we were privileged to have her visit the plant,” a statement by the management of Sunon Asogli Power, said.
The statement said she wanted to acquaint herself with the Energy sector of Ghana and understand the operations in the industry.
Dr Taylor was introduced to Shenzhen Energy and Sunon Asogli Power and was particularly interested in clean energy such as waste-to power, wind power and solar.
She said Liberia is currently facing challenges in their power sector with Electricity prices being high and with very little installed capacity.
She then took a tour around the plant and was impressed with operations of the company and pushed for management to employ more skilled female staff.
She looks forward to a potential investment from Shenzhen Energy group in the Energy industry of her country and invited the group for a familiarization tour of Liberia.
Noble Energy Makes New Oil Discovery At Equatorial Guinea’s Offshore
Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH) has announced that U.S. oil and gas company, Noble Energy, has made a discovery in offshore sector Block I.
The Aseng 6P well was drilled to a total depth of 4,417 meters and is expected to produce first oil in October 2019.
Noble is currently in the process of completing the 400-metre horizontal section of the well and, using existing Aseng field infrastructure, it is expected to produce oil from October 2019.
“We are excited to announce this discovery which could not have come at a more opportune time. We have been dedicated to developing our resources to build a better economy and create opportunities for our people and it seems we are gaining momentum,” Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said in a press release copied to energynewsafrica.com.
He added that: “It’s always been our firm belief that our country is relatively under-explored. When companies drill offshore Equatorial Guinea, their likelihood for a discovery is real. Noble Energy and partners are longtime friends of Equatorial Guinea and it is only fitting that we should build on our oil and gas development efforts with them right by our side. This is great news for our economy, job creation and local content development.”
The Aseng field consists of five subsea wells connected to a FPSO vessel. With a 40 percent interest, Noble Energy is the operator.
Other partners include Atlas Petroleum (29 percent), Glencore Exploration (25 percent) and Gunvor (six percent).
This year, Equatorial Guinea kicked off its endeavour to become Africa’s premier gas hub with the signing of definitive agreements with the Alen field partners and Punta Europa Plant owners to monetise gas from the Noble Energy-operated Alen field–a project known as the Gas Megahub.
As the country develops its gas resources, Minister Obiang Lima said earlier this year that it was also targeting a final agreement on its 2007 joint deal with Cameroon to develop gas condensate discoveries Yoyo and Yolanda on their maritime border.
Minister Obiang Lima, alongside Antonio Oburu, General Director of Equatorial Guinea’s national oil company GEPetrol, will lead a delegation of companies active in Equatorial Guinea to the Africa Oil & Power Conference and Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 9-11, 2019.
Accompanying the minister will be BANGE, Centurion Law Group, Noble Energy, Marathon Oil, Golden Swan, Baker Hughes, Kosmos Energy, Trident Energy, Tullow Oil, Elite Construcciones, Schlumberger, NAHSCO, Hexagon and NALCO Champion.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Aseng field consists of five subsea wells connected to a FPSO vessel. With a 40 percent interest, Noble Energy is the operator.
Other partners include Atlas Petroleum (29 percent), Glencore Exploration (25 percent) and Gunvor (six percent).
This year, Equatorial Guinea kicked off its endeavour to become Africa’s premier gas hub with the signing of definitive agreements with the Alen field partners and Punta Europa Plant owners to monetise gas from the Noble Energy-operated Alen field–a project known as the Gas Megahub.
As the country develops its gas resources, Minister Obiang Lima said earlier this year that it was also targeting a final agreement on its 2007 joint deal with Cameroon to develop gas condensate discoveries Yoyo and Yolanda on their maritime border.
Minister Obiang Lima, alongside Antonio Oburu, General Director of Equatorial Guinea’s national oil company GEPetrol, will lead a delegation of companies active in Equatorial Guinea to the Africa Oil & Power Conference and Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 9-11, 2019.
Accompanying the minister will be BANGE, Centurion Law Group, Noble Energy, Marathon Oil, Golden Swan, Baker Hughes, Kosmos Energy, Trident Energy, Tullow Oil, Elite Construcciones, Schlumberger, NAHSCO, Hexagon and NALCO Champion.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ecolog Int. And Dynology Corp. Sign MOU To Expand Cooperation In Defense And Energy Sectors
Ecolog International, a leading global provider of integrated services, technology, logistics and environmental solutions, and Dynology Corporation, a leading provider of information technology services and cyber security solutions, have signed a strategic MoU to expand cooperation.
This is aimed at providing integrated digital and cyber security solutions to the defence sector, as well as energy infrastructure in Macedonia and the Balkans.
Under the terms of the MoU, parties will join forces to provide integrated security solutions, cyber security services and end-to-end implementation programmes focused on identification, mitigation and enhancement of the infrastructure in defence, as well as energy and hydrocarbon sectors.
Commenting on the MOU, Ali Vezvaei, Chief Executive Officer of Ecolog International, said “In a world of interconnectivity and integration on the one hand and rising complexities and conflicts on the other hand, protecting critical infrastructure in defence and energy sectors are of paramount importance to the nations. We are delighted to expand our cooperation with Dynology Corporation to help our customers address this risk in an integrated and sustainable manner.”
John Lord, President of Dynology Corporation, added, “Having served the U.S. Department of Defence and commercial sector for many years, Dynology Corporation is committed to helping address infrastructure security in general and cyber security in particular with our international customers, and in doing so, we are very pleased to establish our cooperation with Ecolog International.”
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: COPEC Calls For Dissolution Of BOST Board
A consumer advocacy group in the Republic of Ghana, Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) is calling for the dissolution of the board of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) Company Limited.
The call follows the resignation of its second Managing Director within a space of three years.
Executive Secretary of COPEC, Mr. Duncan Amoah, is of the view that the board which supervised some transactions which allegedly caused the exit of the former Managing Directors of the nation’s strategic oil company must share the blame of their actions.
“The existing board should be fired because all the things that led to the resignation and firing of the two heads at the place was supervised by this board,” he said.
On Monday, Edwin A. Provencal was appointed as new MD for BOST after George Mensah Okley tendered in his resignation to the President.
Mr. Okley took over from Alfred Obeng Boateng who was entangled in corruption allegations.
In a statement after the appointment, Chairman of the BOST Board, Ekow Hackman said “Pending the assumption of office by the Managing Director, Mr Moses Mensah Assem, the Deputy Managing Director of BOST, will act as Managing Director.
”The Board wishes to assure all stakeholder and the general public that the company operations will continue uninterrupted.”
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Is PDS Capable Of Transforming The Energy Sector?
On 5th August 2014, the Government of Ghana signed the second Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact (MCC) with the US Government under the theme “Powering Ghana for Accelerated and Sustainable Growth”.
A major project in the Compact II is the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround (EFOT) Project which seeks to strengthen the governance and management of ECG by bringing in an acceptable ECG Private Sector Participant (PSP). I followed the takeover of ECG on March 2019 by this single purpose vehicle called PDS with keen interest because to me it’s a wish that the laxities and the weaknesses in the state distribution entity was going to be addressed in due course, especially the financial challenges in the entire electricity supply matrix which hinges on ECG’s financial/revenue efficiency.
Therefore, the brouhaha about some alleged breaches with PDS’ bond guarantee in taking over the assets and management of ECG came as a surprise to me. However, analyzing the entire narratives, my initial shock turned into inquisition. Indeed, my probing paid off. I intercepted a progress report on PDS for the last four months of their coming into force, which was being submitted to authorities, and I found it very interesting. This has motivated me to share my thoughts with fellow Ghanaians.
I have identified two pivotal events I wish to bring to the notice of Ghanaians. In satisfying all the requirements before taking over the assets and management of ECG as agreed by MiDA and GOG, PDS undertook the following:
PDS engaged local financial entities; Cal Bank and Donewell Insurance Company Limited, in undertaking the bond guarantees on their behalf. This, I think is very significant, a positive sign of the PDS’ commitment to our own and the realization of our local content mantra.
PDS’ improvement in the system as I understand was achieved with the same workforce of the previous entity (ECG). This cannot be overlooked.
Kudos to the government of Ghana and the President in securing workers employment till the end of the 20 years concession period.
As I write this article, I am aware of the government’s investigations that will determine PDS’ continued existence as the concessionaire or otherwise. However, the report I have read on PDS’ progress within the four (4) months of their takeover tells very significant and positive stories which cannot be ignored.
As a student in the energy industry, I can pick a few and draw attention to what I seriously think we should neither gloss over nor take for granted as a government and as a people.
I have read that within four months, revenue to sales collection of PDS has increased to 95.92% from a region of not more than 90%, at the time of their takeover, and this is remarkable. Though it is work in progress, it implies a reduced level of debt stock of the Company, which translates into high liquidity, leading to timely payment of suppliers of the Company, especially the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
The second observation I made from the report is the fact that PDS met a system loss level of 27.3%, but through various technical and commercial interventions, has been able to reduce the figure to 18.6% as at the end of June 2019, as shown in table 1 below. I know it will continue to fluctuate because the real figures can be ascertained at the end of the year. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable achievement, because anytime losses go down, it translates into revenue, which is the bloodline of the industry. If you take the performance of Meralco, the leading Company within the PDS shareholders, they have a single-digit losses level of less than 6% in the Philippines, and I believe they are highly capable of transferring the knowledge and technology in bringing ours further down, when they are given the opportunity to operate in our country. This will translate into higher revenue, and the benefits are enormous.
For example, reduced system losses translate into revenue, which has a significant effect on electricity pricing. The more PDS brings the system losses down to a level even lower than what I am told PURC has pegged (21%), it helps bring stability in the electricity tariff. When we have such price stability in the tariffs, it helps both industry and consumers to plan their lives better. It is therefore critical to consider the expertise of Meralco as the lead shareholder in the PDS consortium in reducing system losses, which will inure to the benefit of the power industry and the entire citizenry.
Table 1
One other performance indicator which interested me is the high level of debt collection. I gather that about 60% of the Company’s billing is in the credit system. The report indicates that accumulated debt by the previous entity of GH₵3.365billion has been reduced to GH₵2.6billion within the past four months. Such effective revenue collection means adequate availability of funds to fuel the entire electricity matrix loop. If PDS have put in place such an efficient running system, especially with the same personnel they inherited, it shows that they have put in place certain structures and monitoring systems which are yielding positive results.
Last but not the least of what I came across is on reduced outages by PDS. The table below indicates an initial number of outages of 665 per week which they were confronted with in March, 2019. Currently, PDS has reduce it to 219 outages per week. Technically records indicate that, the system average interruption duration index of 24.87hours in the previous year has been reduced to 17.26hours as of June 2019. That is about 30.6% improvement as compared to the same period last year, this translates into stable power supply.
TOTAL NUMBER OF OUTAGES (ALL OUTAGES – UNPLANNED, PLANNED, EMMERGENCIES.)
If you monitor social media handles, some customers have even testified that for the first time, they have come to realise that availability of power is highly possible even when it rains. Prior to this, it was the general thinking that when the weather turns cloudy, or whenever it rains power should automatically go off. PDS is doing something right.
In totality, PDS as a new company, has shown that they have the leadership, transformational strategy and team-oriented focus to bring improvement within the system. If within 4 months all indicators point to a positive change, then why not give them a chance to continue.
It is in this vein that I thank the President for the boldness in bringing private participation into the energy distribution system. When all things become equal, what is required of the sector agencies and regulators is to up their game in monitoring and evaluating whatever we have agreed with the PDS to deliver for the benefit of the citizenry and the Government of Ghana
Source: Kofi Brako (Energy Analyst)
| MONTH | SALES (GWh) | PURCHASES (GWh) | SYSTEM LOSSES (%) | |
| Mar-19 | 741.1 | 1,020.0 | 27.3 | |
| Apr-19 | 734.9 | 985.2 | 25.4 | |
| May-19 | 730.6 | 984.1 | 25.8 | |
| Jun-19 | 731.0 | 897.7 | 18.6 |
| WEEK | week 10 | week 11 | week 12 | week 13 | week 14 | week 15 | week 16 | week 17 | week 18 | week 19 | week 20 | week 21 |
| Total no of Outages | 665 | 781 | 681 | 797 | 1276 | 875 | 803 | 588 | 523 | 669 | 720 | 829 |
| WEEK | week 22 | week 23 | week 24 | week 25 | week 26 | week 27 | week 28 | week 29 | week 30 | week 31 | week 32 | week 33 |
| Total no of Outages | 727 | 649 | 507 | 498 | 684 | 466 | 630 | 343 | 434 | 342 | 280 | 219 |