Ghana is reported to have flared approximately 19, 753 MMscf/d of some 204,783 MMscf/d total gas produced in 2020.
Ghana’s three offshore producing fields exported a total of 88,530.59 million scf/d, mainly for power generation in Ghana, while 116,252.81 MMscf/d of gas was reinjected into the reservoirs.
The flared gas represents 20 percent of gas produced for last year and is the biggest amount of gas flared since the country began oil production in 2010.
Ghana’s increasing gas flaring level is coming at a time when there are global efforts to eradicate the extremely harmful practice.
Tullow Oil in particular has stepped up gas flaring activities at its two offshore fields in a bid to significantly boost oil production, and this is due to the country’s limited capacity to absorb the gas produced.
Overall, Ghana’s natural gas production in 2020 increased substantially but challenges with effective utilisation of the fuel meant a huge proportion was wasted in a country struggling to provide steady power supply.
Ghana currently imports some natural gas from Nigeria. Jubilee and TEN were responsible for a huge chunk of the gas field in Ghana. While 10,475. 30 MMscf was flared at Jubilee, TEN was the source of 8,282 MMscf, and OCTP contributed only 996.18 MMscf in gas flaring.
Interestingly, Eni supplied 56, 570.44 MMscf of gas to power producers, and reinjected nearly the same amount of gas (51, 390.44 MMscf) at the OCTP field (Ghana’s only non-associated gas project).
The same trend emerged at the Jubilee field where 23,996.69 of gas was reinjected. The TEN field exported only 5,544.74 MMscf and re-injected a whopping 40,865.68 MMscf in 2020.
The country currently receives around 180 MMscf/d from OCTP field and 140 MMscf/d from Jubilee/TEN fields. Ghana is also entitled to a contracted 120 MMscf/d from Nigeria, but it is often inconsistent. Ghana is not paying for gas received from The Jubilee/TEN fields under a deal to provide two billion scf of “foundation” gas to Ghana for free.
According to government officials, gas price of OCTP has been renegotiated from $8.8 per MMBtu to $6.08 per MMBtu, but natural gas currently sells for below $3 per MMBtu, making gas from OCTP more expensive.
