Gas export from the Floating Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah to the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant has dropped by 40.3 million standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscf).
This challenge has reduced gas supply to the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) and from its Atuabo Gas Processing Plant to the Volta River Authority (VRA) at Aboadze to barely 46.7 million standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscfd) as at press time yesterday, from 87 mmscfd a week ago.
This has left the VRA unable to generate power from some of its gas turbines that run solely on gas, including some turbines of the Africa and Middle East Resources Investment Group’s (AMERI Energy) power plant.
The lost of the 40.3 million standard cubic feet of gas a day has resulted in about 230 megawatts drop in power generation in the Aboadze power enclave.
Speaking to The Finder, Ms Akua K. Anarfi Twumasi from the External Communications Unit of Tullow Ghana Limited, lead operators of the Jubilee fields, blamed the situation on poor weather conditions on the ocean offshore, which has made it difficult to off-take crude oil.
She explained that lifting of crude oil, which was scheduled to be carried out, was suspended due to the adverse weather conditions.
According to her, since FPSO Kwame Nkrumah is almost full with crude oil, operators have no choice but to reduce production.
She explained that as soon as weather conditions improve, off-take would take place, after which production would return to normal.
Communications Manager of Ghana Gas, Mr Alfred Ogbamey, however, acknowledged in an interview late yesterday afternoon that Ghana Gas has reduced supply of lean gas to Aboadze.
“We’re receiving 46.7 mmscf of wet gas from our upstream suppliers and supplying 46 mmscfd of lean gas to our main downstream off-taker based on availability and nominations for the period,” he said.
He admitted that the production figures cited by the company a week ago were accurate and reflected the truest picture of supply at the time.
The CEO of Ghana Gas, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, noted in an interview at an award ceremony in the Western Region last week to honour a number of outstanding indigenes from Nzema that VRA was receiving about 85 mmscfd from Atuabo as a result of an increase in supply at the time, and expressed hope that production would remain same.
This new development is another setback to efforts aimed at arresting the challenges that have brought back rippling power cuts – dumsor.
The situation may worsen the precarious energy deficit that has seen a reversal of the resolution of the dumsor challenges across parts of the country as a result of delayed Light Crude Oil (LCO) deliveries from Nigeria.
Also, gas flow from Nigeria has been cut off because the state power producer, VRA, owes Nigeria's N-Gas around $180 million while N-Gas, in turn, owes the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) $104 million.
The suspension has exacerbated power supply problems given the low water levels at the main hydro plants.
VRA insiders say the situation at hand is dire and precarious.
Information available to The Finder indicates that VRA and the Ministry of Power are set to meet on the issue within the week.
Sources at the VRA told this paper that the unpredictability of gas supply has been a challenge from the beginning of February this year, when the Tullow-operated FPSO developed mechanical and engineering challenges.
The Jubilee field partners announced last week that it expects to fully resolve the FPSO challenges in the first quarter of 2017 at an estimated cost of about $340 million.
The breakdown of a turret bearing on FPSO Kwame Nkrumah brought production at Tullow's prized Jubilee field to a halt for two months earlier this year.
Tullow added that gross costs to turn the offloading vessel into a permanently spread moored facility would amount to as much as $265 million this year and $80 million in 2017.
Spread mooring would involve using anchors or buoys to replace the tug boats, which currently hold the ship steady.
Generation from hydro has also been extremely low for almost four years running as a result of the low drop in the level of water at the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam.
The dam, which has six installed turbines that can produce a maximum 1,020 megawatts of electricity, has been producing barely half of its installed capacity.
With a present production of 520MW from four turbines, generation is set to go as low as 390MW on three turbines due to the drop in the water level, which may see only two turbines in operation.
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