Inadequate infrastructure affecting growth of gas sector – Dr Nii Darko Asante
Board Chairman of the Ghana Gas Consortium, Dr Nii Darko Asante, has indicated that, there is the need to to put in place the infrastructure required to drive the gas sector in Ghana and the West African sub region.
While speaking at the 7th Ghana Gas Forum, he mentioned that the problem of demand in the sector was due to the lack of infrastructure to take produced gas to the downstream.
Adding that, there is the need for the right infrastructure to be put in place to unlock the opportunities in the sector.
According to him, it will be impossible for the country to take advantage of the sector without investing significantly in infrastructure.
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“To unlock the opportunities, the infrastructure has to be good and this is capital intensive,” he stated.
He said while there was a huge market for gas, the demand had not yet been unlocked due to the absence of distribution channels.
“The other challenge is that because the natural gas market is not yet active, if you want to get into this business, you virtually have to do everything yourself. There are only a few service providers who offer some of the services required.
“There are a number of things that in an ideal market, you will just contract an entity to do on your behalf but in this case, you have to recruit almost every part of your operations,” he stated.
He said while there were attractive business opportunities for prospective gas providers and service providers, none of them would happen until someone decides to spend money to build the infrastructure required.
