Secretary of the Senior Staff Association of BOST, Ekow Sey claims that some Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) and highly placed individuals, who form the cartel, have since October last year (2017), prevented BOST from importing petroleum products into the country.

Speaking to Citi Business News, Mr. Sey warned of dire consequences if nothing is done to break up the growing cartel within the petroleum sector.

“As we speak now, BOST is the only entity that has been given the mandate to ensure that we keep strategic stock for the country.  The question we should ask ourselves is that a state company that has been given such a huge responsibility, why is it that from October till date people are trying so hard to put obstacles in our way to bring in petroleum products for strategic reasons. For fuel insecurity, I can’t speak about it in detail but you can make some analogy and draw some inference and get your answer.”

Mr. Sey also highlighted the difficulty BOST faces in maintaining the needed level of strategic stocks of petroleum products, in the face of attacks from the cartel.

“The BDCs have no mandate to keep strategic stocks for the country. So they can dispose of any products they have. But in the event that there are issues and we run out of petroleum products, who is going to ensure that we have strategic stocks for the country? It is only BOST, and once we are not allowed now, with impediments and some obstacles being put in our line of operation, it is very clear that very soon there’ll be fuel shortage within our pumps and within the market.”

In an earlier statement to express their displeasure at developments within the petroleum industry attributable to cartels, the Senior and Junior Staff Associations asserted that the great cartel has been in the system for long and will only be suppressed when the President, the Vice President, Chief of Staff and the Energy Minister understand the important role that BOST can play to bring petroleum prices down.

“Government should know that in the deregulation petroleum regime like ours without any giant governmental agency playing a role;  even if the government removes all taxes the private sector which now controls the industry will replace it with profit in a smart way leaving the ordinary consumers in their vulnerable state; hence reducing taxes is not the ultimate option,” the statement added.

On the part of Mr. Mampaya, the Chairman of the Junior Staff Union he categorically stated that in most cases those in right positions to deal with the problems are given wrong advice.

He cautioned that if the government ignored their advice, “this great cartel whose members have made themselves kingmakers can worry the government in 2020 election because the ground is being prepared for that.”

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By: Bobbie Osei/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Fuel crisis looms over cartel in petroleum industry – BOST workers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The IES believes this will also defeat the immediate claims by the government of reducing the cost of power produced from the power barge.

The comments come on the back of government’s extension of the agreement with Karpower by ten more years.

The government is convinced that the extension is a good deal agreed on citing varied reasons.

However, the opposition NDC insists the extension is a mere indication of been vindicated.

The various players have been sharing their perspectives with Citi Business News on the extension which is expected to bring the cost of power per kilowatt hour down from 16 to 10 cents.

Click to listen to full audio report.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Karpower deal extension: IES warns of rise in power cost (Audio) appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is the concern of Policy Analyst with ISODEC, Dr. Steve Manteaw.

His argument follows the submission of proposals by two companies bidding for the management of the power distribution company.

But how will this affect the outcome of the program?

Citi Business News has been engaging industry players who share divergent views on the matter.

Click to listen to full audio report.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Red flags over local content in ECG as bidders submit proposals (Audio) appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The latest follows the close of submission of request for proposals today, March 26, 2018.

A statement from the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) and copied to Citi Business News said that at the close of the submission, two companies namely; BXC Ghana and Manila Electric Company (MERALCo) had submitted their bids.

It is interesting to note that French electricity conglomerate EDF and French transnational company Veolia, together with their local partners CH Group, did not put in bids for the private participation.

The businesses had raised concern over the 51 percent local stake in the new entity.

It is unclear what led to their latest decision.

Meanwhile MiDA says the evaluation of the bids is expected to be completed in April 2018.

Read full statement below;

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Bidders for ECG concession drops to two appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The company explains that it is working to complete the necessary processes to get clearance from the government to start operations.

The CEO of Aker, Jan Arve Haugan outlined the company’s investment plans at the Norway-Ghana Business Investment Forum on Monday, March 19, 2018.

The CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Dr. K.K Sarpong first hinted of Aker Energy’s involvement in Ghana’s oil and gas sector in January 2018.

The announcement by the CEO of Aker, Jan Arve Haugan therefore corroborates the progress of work that has transpired between Ghanaian authorities and the company.

Aker’s operation in Ghana is however subject to the completion of an agreement to buy Hess Corporation’s stake in the ultra deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block in the Western region.

Jan Arve Haugan tells Citi Business News his outfit is fast tracking a development plan for the block for approval within the stipulated time period.

“The company was established and the first action was to acquire the Hess role of operatorship and then of the licenses so when that is formalized and approved by the Board and the partners, our next stop is then to do the first operational well and then in parallel to that we are developing our field development plan to explain our plan to work with speed to get this field developed and our ambition is to have the first oil in 2021 in Ghana,” he explained.

The oil block in question currently holds an estimated 550 million barrels of oil equivalent and has the potential for a further 400 million barrels.

Mr. Haugan also believes the new exploration will support its expansion drive into other regions in Africa.

“First of all, it will be an operation where it is going to be a new facility that is producing oil and gas in wells outside Ghana. We do believe that there are very prospective areas to the south of the area that has been acquired.”

The coming on board of Aker will improve Ghana’s oil production while increasing revenue from the resource.

This will also add unto other major oil producing fields such as the Jubilee, TEN, Sankofa Gye Nyame among others.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Aker Energy quickens process to start oil drilling in 2021 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The development also puts consumers at risk as there are fears the products may have been in circulation at the various retail outlets.

The revelation comes seven months after the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) directed that all diesel in circulation must contain a maximum sulphur content of 50 parts per million.

The Managing Director of TOR, Isaac Osei disclosed this to Citi Business News.

He however indicated that there are measures in place to reach the goal soon.

“If the facility should receive about 300 million dollars, we should be able to install a de-sulpherer to get the 50 parts per million as planned. In any case we do not have to do so now but we are planning towards it; this year, we will be doing a configuration study and it will inform us on the type of equipment we could put in place in order to comply with the law but then we would be the only country to have done that,” he stated.

NPA’s directive takes effect on July 1, 2017

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) first directed that all diesel in circulation should contain at least 500 million parts per million in November 2016.

This is to precede a final directive which took effect on July 1, 2017 where all imported diesel were expected to contain at least 50 parts per million.

Even though importers of such products have since been complying with the directive, the nation’s refinery is yet to do so.

But industry watchers believe this is long overdue considering the health implication of the unwholesome products.

A Senior Policy Analyst at the African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), Jo-Ann Sackey tells Citi Business News the national oil refinery should expedite its work.

“It has been over a year since the new directive was announced so we would like to know what steps they (TOR) have taken so far to make sure this should not happen; 2020 is just two years away so are they saying that we should ensure using dirty fuel between now and then?”

Despite this, Mr. Isaac Osei is confident of reversing the trend as in his view, Ghana has advanced in processes to meet a sub-regional timeline of 2020, compared to her counterparts within the sub-region.

“The Nigerians say they will do theirs in 2022, Ghana is way ahead of everyone else because it is the only country which has decided that all imports should be at 50 million parts per million that does not affect refineries. People have also been talking about quality; but I think it is not about quality but rather about standards, when standards are yet, then you would have to comply.”

Consumers at greater risk if …

For, industry watchers like ACEP, TOR’s continuous distribution of refined products to Bulk Oil Distributing companies means that consumers still stand a risk of health implications associated with the high sulphur content in diesel.

“If TOR sells to other bulk distributors, then definitely the fuel is going into the pumps and then consumers will be using it subsequently but if TOR itself decides that it will only sell to specific consumers that can use the fuel without any effects, then that wouldn’t be a great concern to vehicle users,” she stated.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Low funding keeps sulphur in diesel products from TOR high appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Company further highlights its intentions to do so by the end of the second quarter of this year.

Ahead of the relocation, the company has held various stakeholder meetings to sensitize stakeholders in the areas about the operations of Karpowership and its contribution to communities.

Residents of Tema Newtown and its surrounding communities had earlier called on government to relo­cate the Karpowership, as smoke emanating from the power ship was severely polluting their environment.

But in an interview with Citi Business News, Corporate Communications Specialist at Karpower, Sandra Amarquaye said the relocation is part of government’s plans to ensure full utilization of gas resources from the Western Enclave.

““Karpowership will deploy its 470MW Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan to the Sekondi Naval Base by the second half of this year. This is in line with government’s plans to ensure full utilization of gas resources from the Western enclave of Ghana. The engagement is to ensure our new stakeholders understand our business and how we operate. At Karpowership, we value our relationship with our local stakeholders” she stated.

About Karpowership

Karpowership is the only owner, operator and builder of the first Powership (floating power plant) fleet in the world.

Currently, the company has over 2500 employees, and owns and operates 15 Powerships with an installed capacity of 3 GW, and 5 GW Powerships under construction.

Karpowership is operational in Ghana, Indonesia, Lebanon and Zambia (via Mozambique).

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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Karpower relocates vessel to Takoradi  appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The caution follows what the Commission describes as the abuse of the law by oil companies.

According to the CEO of the Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille, the issue also prevents proper scrutiny of contracts.

Speaking to Citi Business News, Mr. Faibille stressed that the outfit is worried as the development also leads to the awarding of contracts to favourites.

“…But from April 1, anybody in the upstream sector who has any contract of a hundred thousand dollars and above to give up, will have to submit that contract to the Petroleum Commission at least two months before the award of the contract so that we will get to know what is involved and will alert all those companies that could put in bids to do so; the time for short term and knee-jerk approaches is over,” he said.

The Petroleum Commission boss was speaking at the first local content procurement conference in Accra.

The conference is among others to expose the International Oil Companies operating in Ghana to the existing petroleum laws and their impact on promoting local content in areas which are necessary to be carried out.

Meanwhile the enforcement is not expected to take a retrospective effect.

In Mr. Faibille’s view, the Commission is reviewing current contracts hence the commission will be meticulous going forward.

“The law states that they must advertise so we are giving them the moratorium because we recognize that some of those contracts are already in motion (that is the transitional contracts) and we are monitoring those ones.”

Commenting on other mechanisms to improve local participation, Mr. Egbert Faibille reiterated the establishment of the petroleum register which will provide up to date information on all petroleum agreements, establishment of local content fund as well as the unbundling of services to enhance participation of Ghanaian companies in contracts.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Petroleum Commission halts fast-paced contract approvals appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is to improve the profitability of the oil refinery to be competitive in the industry.

The Managing Director of TOR, Isaac Osei disclosed this plan to Citi Business News following concerns of under production at the facility.

Currently, TOR produces at half capacity of about 25,000 barrels of oil per day due to the faulty equipment.

TOR has been faced with series of operational challenges over the years which compelled it to suspend operations early this year.

“The capacity that we have I think we are using all of it which is about 25,000 barrels of oil per day; by the end of the year, we hope we would have restored the furnace that had exploded in January 2017. Once we restore that we will be back to 45,000 barrels of oil per day; once we get to that level, then it will provide us with the platform to get unto the 60,000 barrels of oil per day which could be described as the profitable range.”

Mr. Osei further stated plans to improve the refinery capacity to turnaround the fortunes of the refinery soon.

“Aside this, we are also negotiating for a 100,000 barrel per day capacity refinery,” he said.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta last year announced moves to attract investors to revamp the operations of TOR.

At the time, he was hopeful that the refinery would be able to resume its full production capacity by the March 2018 to improve the supply of refined petroleum products.

Early this year, the Institute of Energy Security (IES) urged the government to intervene and get the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) back to work.

The IES argued that this will largely be resolved with strengthening of the leadership of the facility.

Meanwhile, the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko has also outlined an ambitious plan to establish a new refinery within the next four years.

The facility which is in line with the government’s energy hub agenda, is estimated to cost 4 billion dollars.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post TOR targets full production by year end appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is at least the second time in a row that the oil company has posted a loss after tax.

For 2017, Tullow’s loss after tax amounted to 189 million dollars; this is an improvement of about 408 million dollars or 68 percent compared to the 2016 figure of 597 million dollars.

The oil company’s revenue for last year also reached 1.72 billion dollars; up from the 1.27 billion dollars recorded in the preceding year.

This means that Tullow’s revenue from its production went up by 453 million dollars or 36 percent between 2016 and 2017.

Even though Tullow recorded a loss of 755 million dollars in 2016, it managed to accrue some profits of about 22 million dollars last year.

Commenting on the company’s performance for last year, the Executive Vice President for West Africa, Gary Thompson, said,

“Tullow’s West African operations remain at the core of Tullow. In 2017, West Africa delivered over 89,000 bopd of high-margin, low-cost oil and in 2018 we will invest in Ghana to sustain this impressive performance over the coming years.”

“Drilling is due to commence on the Ntomme field by the end of this month and we continue to evaluate the business case of procuring additional rig capacity. I have been particularly pleased by the performance of the TEN fields, with production exceeding 70,000 bopd for the last three months, especially given the delays on completing the development wells which resulted from the ITLOS drilling moratorium. I look forward to similarly strong performances from Jubilee, TEN and our other West African oil fields in 2018.”

On the specific operations in Ghana, the Jubilee oilfields produced an average of 89,600 barrels of oil per day.

On TEN, Tullow is hopeful the permission to drill additional wells after the ITLOS ruling, should increase production from the current 56,000 to about 64,000 barrels of oil per day.

Tullow is also optimistic that the completion of the gas export trial to Ghana National Gas Company should allow for the export and sale of TEN gas as well as the ability to supply gas in substitution for Jubilee gas during the planned Jubilee turret remediation shut-downs this year.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Tullow records after-tax loss of $189m appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.