Government gives gas discounts worth $700m in three years
The Government has given away $700m in gas discounts to power generation companies in the last three years.
This is according to the Executive Director of the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye.
Making the assertion during the NorvanReports and Economic Governance Platform X Space discussion on the topic, “Unravelling the Facts and Truth Concerning the GNPC/Genser Deal”, Mr Boakye noted that Government has an outstanding debt of $600m owed to oil firms for gas produced and used from the Sankofa oil field.
“Ghana has spent over $700m on gas discounts and yet is unable to pay for gas produced from the Sankofa oil field.
“The Government has an outstanding debt of $600m because of the discounts it has given in the last three years,” he posited.
In September 2022, ACEP and IMANI initiated an investigation into a sole-sourced contract between Genser and GNPC, encompassing a combined gas and pipeline infrastructure agreement.
Their analysis revealed that Genser stood to receive $1.5 billion in gas discounts (losses) over a sixteen-year period while utilizing effectively subsidised infrastructure to expand its enclave power projects across the country.
Subsidies granted Genser in the deal, the two think tanks further noted, also allowed Genser to poach bulk consumers from state entities such as VRA and ECG.
But the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy led by Atta Akyea, has come out with a report on the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Genser Energy Ghana Limited (GEGL) deal, stating that, there is no evidence of losses to the State as claimed by IMANI and ACEP.
In the report, the committee refuted the claims made by ACEP and IMANI, labeling their calculations and concerns as faulty.
The Committee criticized the computation methods employed by the two organizations, highlighting that the contractual sum of US$2.79/MMBtu included offsets from a capacity charge of US$3.29/MMBtu.
According to the Committee’s findings, the following are some benefits to be gained by the country in the GNPC-Genser deal;
- Make savings to the tune of US$1462billion as GNPC will lose US$1.462billion if GEGL moved to WACoG Net Back
- GNPC/GEGL Gas Transmission Agreement’s savings to GNPC is US$ 1.462 billion. If Ghana had borrowed, it would have cost US$ 1.625 billion.
- Reduction in transmission losses by US$480millions once Ameri plant is relocated to Kumasi and made operational
- Export of NGLs using Takoradi Port would increase port revenue from cargo fees, port dues and other services.
- 15m tonnes of carbon dioxide reduction per year as the UP01 and PP03 will reduce flaring and bring all flared gas to onshore for processing and utilisation as well as 0.225m tonnes of power generation in Kumasi, saving about 40MW of transmission loss.
- 75 percent fuel cost reduction by substituting CNG for diesel for industry by 75 percent
- GEGL clients have extended the life of their mines by 10 years since engaging GEGL due to reliable and quality power
- Structuring of GEGL pipeline network around future industries would enable these industries to develop quickly.
- Over US$400m export revenue from NGL/LNG processing and export per year
- Over US$980m direct investment in Ghana with same amount of forex invested
- About 250 direct and 950 indirect jobs to be created from the business of GEGL
But IMANI and ACEP in a rebuttal have refuted the supposed “benefits” that the Committee claims will inure to the country, further entrenching their stance that the deal is not in the best interest of the nation.
