Energy Minister Descends On WAPCo

The Deputy Minister of Energy, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has urged the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) to expedite action to complete the West African Gas Pipeline project.

The project, which started in 2005, is aimed at tapping gas resources from Nigeria to generate power in Ghana, Togo and Republic of Benin.

Speaking at a two-day seminar that was organized by WAPCo in Accra, Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah said: “After several years, the project still faced many challenges and had consequently delayed gas delivery to the Volta River Authority (VRA) and other beneficiaries.”

He revealed that the continued postponement of the completion date for the project created a situation where the foundation customers who guaranteed the project continued to purchase light crude oil from other sources at great cost.

“In simple terms, the expectations of Ghanaians have not been entirely met. The apparent delay in the completion of this project had increased cost by nearly 70 percent.

This is not only putting financial burden on the equity holders, but might also increase the tariff to the end users,” Mr. Armah-Kofi-Buah emphasized.

CITY&BUSINESS GUIDE has learnt that the original budget of the West African Gas Pipeline project has increased from $600 million to $1 billion.

Whilst challenging WAPCo to take steps to improve the management of the project, the Minister also tasked the company to assume its proper role as the technical and economic regulator of the project.

“With WAPCo close to its first gas transport, we are concerned about the realistic emergency plans that have been put in place to deal with gas related incidents. It is the responsibility of the various agencies in whose jurisdictions the pipeline falls to create awareness of its location,” he added.  

Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah assured that the Government of Ghana and other stakeholders would do everything possible to minimize the incidence of pipeline interference and damage.

The objectives of the two-day seminar, which ends today, are to update delegates on the status of the offshore damage prevention programme and to review its implementation.

The new deadline for the completion of the project was scheduled for next year.

By Felix Dela Klutse