Page 13 - AfrOil Week 48 2021

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

GNGCL describes Atuabo Gas Plant

shutdown as a routine procedure

GHANA GHANA National Gas Co. Ltd (GNGCL) says enhance the capacity for uninterrupted pro-
it will not shy away from routine engineering ductivity while prolonging the lifespan of its
and maintenance of machines and equipment machines and equipment.
at the Atuabo Gas plant in the Western Region of Such operations involved the installation
Ghana, starfm.com reported on November 22. of high integrity pressure protection systems
Corporate communications head Ernest (HIPPS), maintenance works on the replace-
Owusu Bempah said such maintenance works ment of small-bore piping (SBP), heat exchange
are only to guarantee the integrity of the (HEX) cleaning, replacement of a damaged
GNGCL processing plant, and the company will product cooler, replacement of defective valves
continue to do this in accordance with interna- among others.
tional best practices. However, the set time for the maintenance
His statement came in response to the pub- works has elapsed and there is a delay in put-
lic outcry over Ghana once again having erratic ting the plant back online due to gas shortages,
power supplies, popularly known in the country fuelling public speculation that the country may
as “Dum Sor,” literally meaning “off and on.” be returning to erratic power supply. Neverthe-
He commented: “So how a section of the less, Owusu Bempah assured the public that the
public feels that when we [turn] off the Atuabo company has reliable gas supply options availa-
Gas Plant then the nation returns to having ble for power generation. ™
power outages, this cannot be true. I have stated
that there is a system in place which gives us
the opportunity to have gas from Eni, [the]
Eni-Sankofo Sanzule Onshore Gas Receiving
facility. That’s a combination of Atuabo, Eni and
an additional one, [the] Asogli Power Plant, that
provides us with extra gas to generate electricity
for Ghanaians. Therefore, despite the fact that
we have [turned] off the Atuabo Gas Plant, as I
am talking to you, there is still gas that would not
bring any challenge to Ghanaians with respect to
power generation.”
GNGCL shut down the Atuabo processing
plant in October of this year to allow 14 days of
routine engineering and maintenance activities.
Although this shutdown was not in line with The Atuabo Gas Plant was shut down in October for 14 days (Image: GNGCL)
previous actions, the company said it would

BP launches Platina field offshore Angola

ANGOLA BP has kick-started oil production at Angola’s tie-backs to the Greater Plutonio floating pro-
Platina deepwater field, expected to produce duction, storage and off-loading (FPSO) vessel
30,000-40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, at Block 18, from which the Plutonio grade is
the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Petro- exported.
leum announced on November 25. The project comprises four wells and will
Platina is the third new oilfield to come boost recoverable reserves, said Adriano Bastos,
online in Angola in the past seven months, as BP Angola’s senior vice president. “It remains a
the country, which was Africa’s second-largest mark of pride for BP in Angola. After nine years,
producer until early 2021, tries to boost pro- [we] have first oil from a new project, and this
duction. Angolan crude output fell to a 17-year opens up other opportunities. We have other
low of 1.07mn bpd in July, according to a report projects on line, like the new production cen-
from S&P Global Platts. tre where we will have the first oil around 2026,”
The Platina field is connected via subsea Bastos said, according to S&P Global Platts. ™

Week 48 01•December•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13