Construction of Atuabo Gas Plant Stalls

Work on the construction of gas processing plant at Atuabo, has been put on hold. Dr. Sipah Yankey reveals that the project suffered a setback due to the loss and damage of the some components meant for the plant on the high seas off the coast of South Africa due to bad weather. The Chief Executive of Ghana Gas Company Limited in an interview with Radio Ghana revealed that the incident is likely to impact on the completion date of the project. Dr Yankey said about 34 plates meant for the construction of LPG storage tanks and some essential parts were damaged on the vessel carrying the cargo to Ghana. In April, 2013, a Chinese petrochemical firm, Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation, who have been contracted to build the gas infrastructure, abandoned the project because of nonpayment of funds to pre-finance the project. However, in May, the contractor resumed work on the project after government reached an agreement with them on pre-financing plans. When completed, the first phase of the Atuabo gas processing plant will process 150 million standard cubic feet of natural gas, the second phase in 2016/2017 will increase production to 300 million cubic feet a day. The gas processing plant would also save the country money used in buying crude oil for power generation, and also check the environmentally hazardous practice of natural gas flaring.