Ghana Gas rejects Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee’s report on GNPC-Genser deal

A report from the Parliament’s Committee on Mines and Energy on a gas supply deal between the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Genser Energy Ghana Limited has been rejected by the Ghana Gas Senior Staff Association.

The agreement calls for Genser Energy to receive 50 million standard cubic feet of raw gas each day.

Richmond Alamu, the chairman of the Ghana Gas Senior Staff Association, is worried that the terms of the agreement could have a detrimental effect on consumers and possibly result in some losses for Ghana.

“The nation – Ghana, we all need to be very careful of the dire consequences of the decisions that are made today. There are a lot of things that we want improvement on and we cannot allow our birthright as primary actors to be going to a foreign land.

“So the initial agreement was for them to come and assist and they abrogated the contract … so we need to make sure that nobody throws dust into anybody’s eyes by stating that we even went into agreement from the onset,” he said.

The African Centre for Energy Policy and the IMANI Center for Policy and Education have made charges of irregularities; however, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy has looked into these claims and has not discovered any proof of losses in the transaction.

According to information provided by the Parliamentary Committee, the agreement will help the nation create jobs and secure the energy sector.

According to the article, “savings to the tune of US$1.462 billion will be realized as GNPC will lose USS 1.462 billion if GEGL moved to WAC0G Net Back.”

Once the Ameri facility is moved to Kumasi and is operational, transmission losses will also be reduced by $480 million.

The Committee emphasized that there is enough gas present in the background for Ghana Gas and Genser to operate and maintain practical Gas Transmission Plants to fuel the economy.

However, the Association requested that agencies in charge as well as interested parties take another look at the Genser contract.

As a result of the judgment the Committee is attempting to impose, this, according to Ghana Gas, would come with serious implications that the firm will have to cope with.

“IMANI, Bright Simons, Ghana Gas and all other agencies crying for the Genser deal to be looked at entirely are not crying for crying or attention sake because there are dire consequences for the country.”

John Abdulai Jinapor, the ranking member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, has distanced himself from the information contained in the Sales Agreement Report between Genser Energy and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

He believes that the report does not accurately represent his opinions or those of the entire parliamentary minority.

On Thursday, August 17, he issued a statement urging the people to ignore the allegations.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to categorically disassociate myself from the content and intents of the said report as it does not accurately reflect my position and that of the Minority in its entirety.”

First off, it is true that I have continuously argued that the GSA is overpriced and would cause the state to suffer large losses. Therefore, it cannot be said that I disagreed with ACEP/IMANI’s assertion that the GSA in its current form will cause the state to suffer significant losses.

“More importantly, it is inaccurate to report that the entire membership of the committee disagreed with my position.”