Ghana’s economy is expected to receive a major boost as the country receives its share of gas flow under the West African gas pipe-line project.

The project is expected to be fully operational before December this year, after it was stalled on two occasions.

Deputy Energy Minister Kwame Ampofo Twumasi who confirmed this to Joy news, explained the project was expected to take off this month but had to be postponed again due to technical challenges.

According to him, gas was expected from two sources- Chevron and Shell, but explained “the moisture content in the shell gas could cause problems if mixed up with the chevron dry gas.”

He maintained technical experts from the Nigerian end are feverishly working to ensure that the project began in earnest before the end of the year.

He discounted assertions that the Nigerian government is deliberately stalling the project to satisfy the Nigerian market first before activating the project.

“I don’t think they are deliberately stalling the project, otherwise they wouldn’t have made us invest so much in the gas project.”

He said the various energy ministers in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria are expected to meet in the middle of October to finalise negotiations on the volume of gas to be distributed to each country.

On the benefits Ghana stands to accrue from the gas flow, Hon. Twumasi noted the cost of producing power will reduce drastically since the country will no longer depend on the crude oil and diesel.

He also noted, the projected when in operation will lead to a reduction in the price of gas.


Author: Nathan Gadugah