A well-considered and well-articulated gas master plan could just be the rudder that could sail Ghana’s nascent gas sector into more certain waters and drive the much needed investment, an oil and gas executive in the West African nation has advocated.
Investors tend to look at clearly defined industry goals, targets, incentives and other related factors to help in making decisions regarding whether to invest in country A or B.
“And if you have a roadmap and everyone can see where you are going and how you will get to your destination, that blueprint is very important. Everyone has it and everybody respects that and plays to that,” declared Joe Mensah, an oil executive and Vice President/ Country Director for Kosmos Energy in Ghana. “And all of us can work together. The synergies will work. But if there’s no plan, you don’t know where you fit in,”
In his opinion, a pragmatic, highly-visible national policy document on gas is critically important for the sector. A draft gas master plan for Ghana has been in the works for nearly a decade now.
Mr. Mensah sees adopting a gas master plan as a sure way to encourage investment in gas exploration and production. Tullow Oil, operator of Jubilee and TEN fields, is hoping to supply 200 MMscf/d this year, below the 300MMscf/d that Ghana had requested for to keep its lights on and power industries.
Energy think-tank ACEP says Ghana lost 47 billion cubic feet of gas via flaring between 2019 and 2021, worth $300 million. Gas watchers say a workable gas master plan could help to reduce gas flaring.
It is estimated that Ghana has about 1.82 TCF of gas reserves. The country’s three producing fields deliver 500MMscf/d of associated gas and 200 MMscf/d of non-associated gas. Tullow Oil says it has revised its gas outlook for Ghana in 2023 to 2 TCF of untapped gas. Analysts say a gas master plan could help to galvanise investors into the area.
Sources say the draft gas master plan clearly defines the roles of key institutions in the gas value chain, eliminating the friction that ensued between GNPC and Ghana Gas Company. In 2020, the Ministry of Energy set up a Ministerial Gas task force to fine-tune the national gas policy document but the plan is yet to be published.
Ghana produces enough gas for domestic use but deep concerns are emerging that production could decline significantly in the coming years as new fields are yet to come online. Apart from providing feedstock for power stations, gas from domestic sources produce condensate, which is processed into propane, butane and gasoline.