Page 5 - DMEA Week 03 2022

DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA

2017 and was closed completely between July kicking off this month. This would be increased
2020 and January 2021. Outages have been once TOR’s operations ramp up in 2022.
experienced at the crude distillation and fluid Combined, the completed Sentuo and reha-
catalytic cracking units, while only one of the bilitated TOR would be more than capable of
CDU’s furnaces is currently operational, giving catering to Ghana’s 80,000-90,000 bpd prod-
the 56-year-old facility an effective throughput uct demand, and this potential is no doubt an
capacity of 30,000 bpd. attractive proposition for Accra, which last year
However, in May 2021 S&P Global Platts moved to buy back oil licences to drive the sec-
quoted sources as saying that the refinery had tor’s performance.
depleted all of its feedstock, with operations
halted for maintenance and repair works to Gas plant
begin. Meanwhile, Energy Minister Matthew Opoku
“The refinery is currently down. We Prempeh has charged the Ghana National Gas
exhausted the crude oil we had and we are yet to Co. board with ensuring the establishment of a
receive any new crude oil cargo,” the source said. second processing plant for the country.
“In the meantime, the maintenance outfit of the Speaking at the board’s first meeting this year,
company is taking advantage of the situation to he said another gas processing plant was long
carry out some few repair works.” overdue, “especially as the population expands
Frustrations boiled during the second half of and over 70% of our fuel requirement for power
2021, with local outlet Modern Ghana reporting generation is met by natural gas.”
in August that refinery staff had “recently locked Ghana currently has the capacity to produce
up some management staff”. over 350mn cubic feet (9.91mn cubic metres)
Meanwhile, state utility ECG said in Decem- per day of gas from two of the three oil and gas
ber that it had cut electricity supplies to TOR fol- fields, the Jubilee and TEN fields, which produce
lowing the facility’s failure to pay $4.3mn of debt. wet gas. Sankofa Gye Nyame, the most recent
“We’ve pursued [TOR] for some time to pay field to be commissioned, produces dry gas.
the bill, but unfortunately, all our [efforts were] The Atuabo gas processing plant is, how-
not yielding, so we were compelled to cut the ever, capable of processing less than half that
lines,” according to the leader of a taskforce set up amount. As of October 2021, it was processing
to recover the missing payment. He added that 130-140 mmcf (3.68-3.96 mcm) per day of gas
ECG will restore power only if the state refinery to power electricity generation plants, mainly the
pays at least 30% of the debt. However, the local Aboadze thermal power plant (TPP).
Joy News reported that TOR has expressed sur- Consequently, this has restricted wet gas to
prise over ECG’s actions. 130 mmcf per day, almost the country’s entire
The two companies held talks in ECG’s Accra installed gas processing capacity. As with the
offices regarding the repayment of debt, with Joy refining issue, a new gas processing plant is seen
News quoting sources as saying that the parties eliminating Ghana’s dependence on imports, in
had agreed an $81,000 per month payment plan, this case on irregular supplies from Nigeria.™

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