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Ghana Mining Info
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The energy sector of the Ghanaian national economy has the ministry of energy as the governing body responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy, regulatory issues, and administration as well as coordination of all organizations formed to help achieve the government’s energy objectives. The energy commission and energy foundation have been constituted to assist the sector ministry. The ministry of energy supervises the operations of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company (ECG). The energy industry is divided into power and petroleum sub sectors.
The Power Sector The power sector is vested in the hands of Volta River Authority (VRA) and is responsible for the generation and transmission of electricity in Ghana and supplies electricity in bulk to ECG, which is responsible for distribution of electricity throughout the southern part of the country. VRA also distributes power in Northern Ghana through its subsidiary - Northern Electricity Department (NED). Ghana's energy sector is dominated by state-owned enterprises. Transmission and distribution of electricity are under state monopoly. Although Ghana is a net exporter of electrical energy in most years, low water levels at the Volta dam (Akosombo) the a source of hydroelectric energy generation frequently lead to supply shortages and electricity cuts. The energy sector accounts to about 3.2% of GDP.
The capacity of the Akosombo plant is being increased to 1,050 MW with the help of the World Bank. Two build-operate-transfer (BOT) HEP plants are being mooted: the 400 MW Bui project on the Black Volta and the 125MW Pra River plant. These two sites apart, there is little scope for further HEP expansion. Most suitable sites have been developed or would be environmentally insupportable.
In order to develop the solar and renewable energy programmes, the ministry established the RENEWABLE ENERGY SERVICES PROJECT (RESPRO) with funding support from the Global Environment Fund through the United Nations Development Programme.
Petroleum Sector The petroleum sector is constituted into up and downstream operations. The downstream is organized for processing crude oil into various finished petroleum products, storage and distribution and managed by TOR.
The upstream operation is tasked with the exploration of natural resources in the form of oil and gas with GNPC as the institutional body. In order to fulfill this role GNPC engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas fields, the promotion of resources to interested parties, and data management of geological and geophysical information in our laboratories and data storage facilities.
Petroleum Resource As early as 1896, wells were drilled in and around Half-Assini as a result of oil seeps found onshore Tano basin. Today one can still see some of these seeps at Bokakere. Between 1978 and 1985 oil was produced from the Saltpond field. Since the inception of GNPC in 1983 to date, over 30,000 km of 2-D and over 5,000 km2 of 3-D seismic data have been acqired These data are available for review or licensing at the GNPC office.A number of oil, oil/gas and gas fields have been found in the Tano basin. In all eighty-nine (89) wells have been drilled in the country. Six (6) discoveries have been made. It is also worth mentioning that 75% of 50 exploratory wells drilled encountered varying degrees of hydrocarbon shows. Sedimentry Basins Five (5) sedimentary basins have been identified in the country. These are:
Discoveries Field Basin Year Fluid type
Current Operation Companies and Location of Operation
Production History Out of the seven discoveries made in Ghana it is the Saltpond field that has undergone production between 1978 and 1985. A total of about 3.47 MMbo was produced and 14 Bcf of gas was flared during the period. A Production Platform "Mr. Louie" which was used for the production is still in place.
GNPC in an effort to revive the field entered into an agreement with Lushann Eternit in the year 2000. This agreement resulted in the formation of a joint venture company - Saltpond Offshore Producing Company Ltd (SOPCL) - which is currently operating the field. In the North and the South Tano fields, a number of appraisal wells have been drilled.
Beyond this, GNPC has carried out an extended production test in the South Tano field. Currently, GNPC is talking to a number of oil companies to utilize the gas from these fields for power generation. A 125 MW power barge is already available in Ghana for such a venture. The 3-AX block is envisaged to be an additional source of gas for the Tano power generation project. The Cape Three Points and the West Tano discoveries are yet to be appraised. All the open acreages are available for licensing. The fine-tuning of identified prospects and the development of new ones are currently underway in GNPC. Existing geophysical and geological data on the open acreages are available in GNPC for review and licensing.
The legal framework governing Petroleum exploration and production is being reviewed to create a very competitive business environment for investment in Ghana over others in the sub-region and the international oil industry.PETROLEUM AGREEMENTS AND LAWS Date: 30 June 2008 The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation has the following documents available for potential investors and interested parties. 1. Model Petroleum Agreement 2. Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law 84 3. Petroleum Income Tax Law 188 4. GNPC Law 64 GUIDELINES FOR SETTING UP UPSTREAM PETROLEUM SERVICE COMPANIES IN GHANA: Date, 15th April 2008 The Ministry of Energy directs that all companies setting up in Ghana for the purpose of providing services to Oil Companies that are conducting Petroleum Exploration and Production Operations :"Service Companies") under various Petroleum agreements with the Government of Ghana and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation :GNPC) should register and apply for permits from the GNPC before setting up.
Companies which have already set up should register and apply for permits from GNPC to regularise their operations. Service Companies are reminded that they "are defined as "Sub-Contractors" under the petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law, PNDCL 84, 1984. This law imposes local content obligations on sub-contractors. Thus Service Companies are required to operate within the framework of this law.
Gas Resources source: WAGP, EnergyCommission Natural gas was first discovered offshore Ghana in 1974 in the Cape Three Points Basin. Reserves estimates vary wildly but probably lie between 840 bn cf and 1,750 bn cf, mostly in the Tano North and South fields. Although not large on an international scale, the size of such reserves makes natural gas a more economically viable source of domestic energy than the exploitation of any oil reserves.
A key plank of the Ghanaian government's gas strategy is the WAGP project, which involves the transportation of gas from Nigeria to the rest of West Africa. However, as the terminus of the WAGP, Ghana is important in the development of the project and is expected to consume at least 85 % of the pipeline's throughput.
In the medium term, and probably also in the long-term, the government is keen to utilize gas resources closer to home. The main obstacle holding back natural gas production offshore Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire is the lack of accessible markets. Given the Ghanaian and Ivorian governments' enthusiasm for domestic gas fired power plants, it seems increasingly likely that production can be brought on stream.
A key element of the government's policy is to adapt existing oil fired plants to natural gas. The Takoradi thermal power plant at Aboadze was originally designed as an oil fired plant. Its first three turbines providing a total of330 MW capacity became operational in 2000.
Another three turbines are planned by CMS Energy, the company managing the plant, bringing capacity up to 660 MW. The current plan is to adapt the plant to gas use, if and when the WAGP is developed. The Takoradi plant is therefore the pipeline's most important customer. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with pipeline consortium, although the method of calculating tariffs has yet to be agreed. As an alternative source of gas, British company Penspen is currently examining the feasibility of building a pipeline from near Abidjan in Cote D'Ivoire to the Takoradi plant. Gas could be supplied from Ivorian offshore fields and this pipeline would take just over a year to construct. The most effective solution, if it can be made to work, would be to integrate the two projects. The other main gas scheme is the Tano Fields Development and Power Project (TFDPP), which would supply gas from the two Ghanaian fields to a new 260 MW plant. A 3D seismic study of the fields is currently being undertaken by Compagnie Generale de Geophysique of France. Other possible sources of gas for the project include Cote D'Ivoire's Block CI-01 and Ghana's Cape Three Points Basin.
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