The West African Gas Pipeline Reverse Gas Flow Project is expected to be ready by second quarter of next year, to ensure free flow of gas from Aboadze to Tema for power generation, Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko has said.

Currently, gas from oilfields in the western coast only terminates at the Aboadze thermal enclave in the Western Region.

This means that gas from the oil and gas fields offshore Cape Three Points in the Western Region are currently not available for use by thermal plants sited in Tema; hence the need for the construction of a reverse gas pipeline between Aboadze and Tema.

Mr. Agyarko, appearing before Parliament to answer a number of questions on energy-related issues said the project is progressing steadily and is on course to be completed before the first gas from the Sankofa-Gye Nyame field come on-stream by the end of second quarter (Q2) of 2018.

Mr. Agyarko explained that all parties involved namely: the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCo), Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC), and Eni Ghana, with the support of the World Bank, have showed maximum cooperation and commitment towards the execution of the project.

The regulator for the pipeline, West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAGPA), has also indicated its support for the project.

Some of the major project updates include: the conclusion and signing off of the Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) between the GNPC and WAPCo

Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract has also been awarded for the actual expansion and modification works to be conducted at the Tema and Takoradi Regulating and Metering (R&M) stations of WAPCo and GNGC’s R&M station in Takoradi.

All other agreements, Mr. Agyarko said, are at advanced stages of finalization and signing off They include: Construction Management Agreement (CMA) between Eni Ghana and WAPCo; CMA between Eni Ghana and GNGC; Tie-In and Interconnection Agreement between WAPCo and GNGC; and the Tie-In and Interconnection Agreement between Eni Ghana and GNGC.

“All these agreements are being negotiated concurrently, since they are independent of each other. The most critical activities [signing of the GTA Term Sheet] and the award of the EPC contract have been undertaken and the project is on schedule to meet its completion date,” he said.

He also added that the Ministry has tasked the parties to conduct a detailed hydraulic flow modelling study in order to fully ascertain the operational need for the 2nd lateral line at Tema.

The parties involved include Eni Ghana, WAPCo, GNGC and GNPC with technical assistance being provided by the World Bank under the Project Preparation Facility.

The completion of the project will ensure that first gas from the Sankofa Fields, which is expected to be shipped ashore by the middle of next year, can now be safely delivered to the thermal units in Tema as well.

Ghana will reportedly receive gas from the OCTP field for about US$7.5 per million British thermal unit (MMBTU).

The volume to be produced by the Sankofa Gas Project is estimated at between 171 and 210 mscf/day of non-associated gas.

The Minister, in a separate interview last week, indicated that power producers are going to switch to the use of gas as against crude for thermal power production.

“We are going to switch a lot of the producers to gas. Power producers that we have met have seen reason in what we are saying. So we have met with a lot of the energy producers and have had some agreements,” he said.