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Renewable Energy Technology
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Page 3 of 3 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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