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.
The Chronicle
