Ghana Gas to export to Ivory Coast

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Ghana Gas (GNG), Dr. Ben Asante has stated that it is impossible for a country to industrialise without sustainable, reliable and affordable power supply and that, gas has become the fossil fuel choice for the future and not other hydrocarbons.

According to him, because of the role gas plays in industrialisation drive, Ghana Gas processes and moves its products to the Aboadze enclave for power generation.

Dr. Ben Asante was speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the company’s office complex in Takoradi, which was graced by President Akufo-Addo.

The facility, constructed by Sinopec, would be a fulcrum for all development plans of gas and would serve as a command control center and remote control operation of gas processing plant and associated pipelines and stations.

The building was started in November 2017 and completed in November 2018.

Dr. Ben Asante said the company was considering plans of exporting gas to neighbouring Ivory Coast and intended to put in a facility that would allow the bi-directional transfer of gas between the two countries.

This, he said, was not devoid of the fertilizer plant earmarked for the Jomoro area. He said the company has been working hard with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to make the dream a reality.

Dr. Ben Asante used the occasion to pay homage to staff of the company. He said in his 30 years as an expert in the field of gas, he has realised that the men and women of Ghana Gas were both hardworking and knowledgeable.

This is evidenced in the three-year indigenisation of the plant by local Engineers, which saves the county $15 million every month.

He said unlike Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago, which has taken decades to indigenous, the men and women of Ghana Gas used three years to achieve the feat. “This is a phenomenal feat”, he added.

Dr. Ben Asante, however, appealed to the president to help provide clarity and strength on the national assets institutional and regulatory agencies.

“Mr. President, we want to know whether it is Ghana Gas or GNPC which is in custody of Ghana Gas. I know the Ministry is working on it, but we need to provide clarity on that”, he said. The president, in response, said Ghana gas continues to transform the energy sector positively. The president who commended the company for the indigenisation exercise said it was a record time, considering the number of years other countries had taken to indigenise.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for the Ellembelle constituency and former Petroleum Minister, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah has said though the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is not in power, the foundation it has laid in the oil and gas sector is sustaining the country.

The Former Petroleum Minister’s comment comes after the president, Nana Akufo- Addo commissioned the multimillion-dollar office complex for the Ghana Gas Company Limited.

Armah Buah, who was present at the commissioning of the project told Journalists that the commissioning of the project was clear evidence that the John Mama administration laid a good and strong foundation in the Oil sector.

“Nobody should blame President Akufo Addo for coming to this event because when you start things like this, all the president will do is to commission projects started by the predecessor”.

Armah Buah said Ghana Gas must focus and facilitate extension of gas to the Eastern Enclave. This is because, the quantity of gas “we want is not what we are getting and as I speak to you, the volume of gas we have here (Aboadze enclave) has not been utilized.”

He said in the last budget, government asked the ENI to delay production of gas because “we have not been able to facilitate the volume of gas through the reverse flow to Tema”.

The Ellembelle MP appealed to the management of Ghana Gas to start the process and lay out plans for the community since the acquisition of lands for the project was taken by compulsory acquisition.