Page 7 - AfrOil Week 03 2022

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

However, according to correspondence between 2021, with local outlet Modern Ghana reporting
the company and the Electricity Company of in August that refinery staff had “recently locked
Ghana at the time, Sentuo had requested the up some management staff”.
relocation of two electricity pylons and was due Meanwhile, state utility ECG said in Decem-
to pay $190,000 for the work. ber that it had cut electricity supplies to TOR fol-
Local news reports showed ongoing land lowing the facility’s failure to pay $4.3mn of debt.
clearing work, which Tema Development Corp. “We’ve pursued [TOR] for some time to pay
(TDC) said was limited to the construction of the bill, but unfortunately, all our [efforts were]
a wall. not yielding, so we were compelled to cut the
Speaking at a dinner in Accra on Janu- lines,” according to the leader of a taskforce set
ary 13, the EPA’s acting director of petroleum up to recover the missing payment.
Kojo Agbenor-Efunam said that the agency’s He added that ECG would restore power
environmental impact assessment (EIA) also only if the state refinery pays at least 30% of the
showed that the project site was “very close” to debt. However, the local Joy News reported at
a residential area, reiterating the issues noted in the time that TOR had expressed surprise over
the second quarter of last year. ECG’s actions.
“We saw that this is a refinery that you’re The two companies held talks in ECG’s Accra
building about 15 metres from the nearest res- offices regarding the repayment of debt, with Joy
idence. So it is like you are placing a bomb very News quoting sources as saying that the parties
close to the people and any time something goes had agreed on an $81,000 per month payment Combined, the
wrong and there is a blast, you are going to wipe plan, which was supposed to kick off this month, completed Sentuo
out almost everybody,” he said. with payments to be increased once TOR’s oper-
Agbenor-Efunam added that the building ations ramp up in 2022. plant and the
would also “close the buffer between the Tema Combined, the completed Sentuo plant and
Industrial zone and the residential area.” the rehabilitated TOR would be more than capa- rehabilitated
The findings come following clarification ble of catering to Ghana’s 80,000-90,000 bpd
that TDC had designated the location for petroleum product demand. This is undoubt- Tema refinery
industrial uses. “We were looking at the area as a edly an attractive proposition for Accra, which would be more
buffer, but the TDC said the area was not a buffer last year moved to buy back offshore oil licences
but had been zoned for industrial purpose. So to gain control over the sector’s performance. than capable of
we had no choice,” he said.
“As far as we are concerned, the place is not Gas plant covering Ghana’s
suitable ... The planning authorities had given Meanwhile, Energy Minister Matthew Opoku
the development permit to the company and Prempeh has charged the board of Ghana fuel demand
they have given them authorisation to clear the National Gas Co. (GNGC) with ensuring the
land with or without EPA permit,” Agbenor-Efu- establishment of a second processing plant for
nam said. the country.
With the EPA appearing not to have been Speaking last week at the board’s first meet-
able to counter the site work, it is hard to argue ing of the year, he commented that another gas
against public accusations of toothlessness processing plant was long overdue, “especially
against the agency. as the population expands and over 70% of our
fuel requirement for power generation is met by
Existing facility natural gas.”
Tema is the location of Ghana’s only existing Ghana currently has the capacity to produce
refinery, the struggling 45,000 bpd Tema Oil over 350mn cubic feet (9.91mn cubic metres)
Refinery (TOR). per day of gas from two of its three oil and gas
The facility has been plagued by issues since fields, the Jubilee and TEN fields, which produce
an explosion at its distillation unit in early wet gas. Sankofa Gye Nyame, the most recent
2017 and was closed completely between July field to be commissioned, produces dry gas. It is
2020 and January 2021. Outages have been located 60 km offshore in the Tano basin.
experienced at the crude distillation and fluid The Atuabo gas processing plant is, however,
catalytic cracking units, while only one of the capable of processing less than half that amount.
CDU’s furnaces is currently operational, giving As of October 2021, it was processing 130-140
the 56-year-old facility an effective throughput mcf (3.68-3.96 mcm) per day of gas to for deliv-
capacity of 30,000 bpd. ery to domestic electricity generation plants,
However, in May 2021 S&P Global Platts primarily to the Aboadze thermal power plant
quoted sources as saying that the refinery had (TPP).
depleted all of its feedstock, with operations Consequently, this has restricted wet gas
halted for maintenance and repair works to supplies to 130 mcf per day, equivalent to almost
begin. 100% of the country’s entire installed gas pro-
“The refinery is currently down. We cessing capacity. As with the refining issue, a
exhausted the crude oil we had and we are yet to new gas processing plant is expected to elimi-
receive any new crude oil cargo,” the source said. nating Ghana’s dependence on imports. In this
“In the meantime, the maintenance outfit of the case, the shipments that would be affected are
company is taking advantage of the situation to irregular supplies from Nigeria, which delivers
carry out some few repair works.” gas to the Ghanaian market via the West African
Frustrations boiled during the second half of Gas Pipeline (WAGP). ™

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