Workers of the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) has expressed their displeasure and protested strongly against the Ministry of Energy’s deal with Genser Energy Ghana Limited.
According the Senior Staff Association of Ghana Gas, it is high time President Akufo-Addo brought to a halt the much-talked-about gas supply agreement with the energy company.
Under the deal, 50 million standard cubic feet of raw gas will be supplied per day to Genser Energy.
The workers believe this agreement will lead to the failure and detriment survival of Ghana Gas and as well negatively affect the government’s vision of building a second gas processing plant.
In a press issued by Ghana Gas Senior staff Association against the Genser deal, Ghana Gas is 100% owned by the state whiles Genser is known to have about 90% of its shares being owned by foreigners. It is also known that, Genser repatriates over 80% of its revenue to South Africa. Therefore, it baffles their minds for any Minister of State to do the bidding of Genser at the expense of a state-owned company.
“The background to this issue is that the expected maximum output of raw gas from the Jubilee fields, as indicated by the Jubilee Partners, is 200MMSCFD by 2025. Ghana Gas’ existing Gas Processing Plant can process a maximum of 150MMSCFD (75% of the expected maximum raw gas output from the Jubilee partners).
“Riding on the President’s directive, Ghana Gas is currently working assiduously with its financiers to build a new Gas Processing Plant with a capacity of 200MMSCFD, which will increase the processing capacity from 150MMSCFD to 350MMSCFD with room for future incremental flows.”
Richmond Alamu, Chairman of Ghana Gas Senior Staff Association
Mr. Richmond Alamu also stipulated that, workers of Ghana Gas were shocked to hear Genser’s planning to build a Gas Processing Plant with its raw gas source being Jubilee fields.
Ghana Gas’ existing and yet-to-be-built Gas Processing Plants can process the expected 200MMSCFD maximum output from the Jubilee fields until such a time that the maximum output goes beyond 350MMSCFD, he said.
Mr. Alamu touching on the activities within the industry mentioned that, it will take a longer period for the 350MMSCFD output from the Jubilee fields to materialize.
Hence, having a private-owned Gas Processing Plant to compete with Ghana Gas for raw gas from the same source is a recipe for disaster, he added.
“Allowing the agreement to stand could affect power supply in the country, therefore, a blind eye cannot be turned on the Genser deal.
“Genser deal is very bad for Ghana and in the long term, it will have a lot of financial consequences for the nation.”
Richmond Alamu
Staff Of Ghana Gas Disappointed In Energy Minister, Calls For President’s Intervention
Having analysed the issues and information gathered from the Ministry of Energy, the Senior Staff Association of Ghana Gas is convinced that the sector minister is bent on pushing this Genser deal despite several calls from sister companies including VRA, GRIDCO and ECG (whose operations have also been taken over in the mining sector in the west by Genser) that this Genser deal will gradually collapse state-owned companies.
Again, the workers of Ghana Gas feel totally betrayed by the Energy Minister considering the fact that in 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic and months before the elections, the then Minister through the board and management of Ghana Gas challenged the workers to work more than 200% of their normal working hours through risky moments to ensure continuous availability of power despite the health risk those moments posed.
According to the workers, they are unhappy with the way the Minister of Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh is handling the issue of the concurrent existence of Genser Energy Ghana Limited’s Gas Condition Plant and Ghana Gas’ Gas Processing Plant Train 2.
According to the Senior Staff Association, the last thing the workers of Ghana Gas want to avoid is for the Energy sector to go through the same fate as the financial sector is experiencing.
They thereby consider the sector Minister’s current posturing as a stab in the back considering all the efforts being made by Ghana Gas to support the sector.
In conclusion, the Senior Staff Association of Ghana Gas questioned the Minister of Energy’s commitment to the construction of the second state-owned Gas Processing Plant and the entire indigenization drive of the sector. They are therefore calling on the Presidency to intervene, since the President’s dream of having a second Gas Processing Plant is on the line.
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