Business News of Tuesday, 10 January 2023

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

No one has signed any contract with GENSER - Energy Ministry

Matthew Opoku Prempeh is an Energy Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh is an Energy Minister

The Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has stated that he has not signed any contract with GENSER.

This is according to a press statement from the ministry which noted that the only contracts signed with GENSER on record are by GNGC and GNPC.

In a response to the article, “Overturn Napo’s Approval of Genser Deal – Ghana Gas Workers Urge Akufo-Addo,” the energy ministry said, “This contract between GENSER & GNGC predates the Minister’s tenure at the Ministry of Energy and was signed on behalf of the GNGC by Dr. Ben Asante, its CEO and the Ministry duly informed.”

The release however added that the ministry is aware of the briefing of the Senior Staff Association of the GNGC by its CEO, who is misleading them for reasons best known to himself.

“At the appropriate time, the Ministry will fully come out with all documentation necessary in respect of this matter,” the statement concluded.



Read the earlier article published by starrfm.com.gh

The Ghana Gas Senior Staff Association has questioned the Minister of Energy’s commitment to the construction of a second state-owned gas processing plant and the entire indigenisation drive of the sector.

A statement issued by the Ghana Gas-SSA urged President Akufo-Addo to intervene since his dream of having a second gas processing plant is on the line.

The workers of Ghana Gas expressed disquiet about the way the current Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, is handling the issue of the concurrent existence of Genser Energy Ghana Limited’s (GEGL/Genser) Gas Conditioning Plant and Ghana Gas’ Gas Processing Plant Train 2.

They claimed the situation reverses the hard-earned indigenisation achievement by his predecessors.

“Ghana Gas is 100% owned by the state whiles Genser is known to have about 90% of its shares being owned by foreigners. It is also known that Genser repatriates over 80% of its revenue to South Africa. Therefore, it baffles the minds of workers of Ghana Gas for any Minister of State to do the bidding of Genser at the expense of a state-owned company.

"It is worthy to note that Ghana Gas derives its obligation to construct a second Gas Processing Plant from the 2022 President’s State of the Nation Address. The President was emphatic that Ghana Gas will be building a second Gas Processing Plant with a higher capacity than the existing Gas Processing Plant,” part of the statement said.

The statement further added that having a private-owned entity compete with Ghana Gas for raw gas from the Jubilee fields is a recipe for disaster.

The Ghana Gas-SSA has therefore called on the President to overturn the Minister’s approval of the 50MMSCFD of raw gas supply to Genser’s plant.

SSD/DA