Energy Minister Dr. Joseph Oteng Agyei says the government has made several interventions in settling the debts of the Tema Oil Refinery to enable it function properly to support the energy sector.

According to him, the government has so far settled GHS 1,137,832,874 of the state refinery’s debt and is hoping to pay off the total outstanding debt of about 610.9 million Ghana cedis soon.

The minister who was taking his turn at the meet the press series in Accra said with such interventions by the government, TOR should in the coming years be financially sound to operate efficiently.

Dr. Agyei also attributed the current 300 megawatts energy shortfall in the country to the activities of pirates in the sub region.

He said information reaching them indicates that “an encounter between a Togolese army and a third party vessel trying to hijack an oil tanker on Tuesday 28th August, 2012 at about 2:AM might be related to the reported breath of the WAG pipeline.”

He said this has caused a power supply deficit of about 300 megawatts at peak time. This has forced the ECG to cut power supply to prevent the destruction of the certain machines.

He indicated that the power cuts will continue until the gas supply is restored but assured that industry consumers will be insulated from the power cuts.

He however added that companies within residential areas that are difficult to identify and to isolate would be affected by the load shedding exercise.

Gov’t Pays

Over GH¢1.137 bn

Of TOR's Debt - Minister

Energy Minister Dr. Joseph Oteng Agyei says the government has made several interventions in settling the debts of the Tema Oil Refinery to enable it function properly to support the energy sector.

According to him, the government has so far settled GHS 1,137,832,874 of the state refinery’s debt and is hoping to pay off the total outstanding debt of about 610.9 million Ghana cedis soon.

The minister who was taking his turn at the meet the press series in Accra said with such interventions by the government, TOR should in the coming years be financially sound to operate efficiently.

Dr. Agyei also attributed the current 300 megawatts energy shortfall in the country to the activities of pirates in the sub region.

He said information reaching them indicates that “an encounter between a Togolese army and a third party vessel trying to hijack an oil tanker on Tuesday 28th August, 2012 at about 2:AM might be related to the reported breath of the WAG pipeline.”

He said this has caused a power supply deficit of about 300 megawatts at peak time. This has forced the ECG to cut power supply to prevent the destruction of the certain machines.

He indicated that the power cuts will continue until the gas supply is restored but assured that industry consumers will be insulated from the power cuts.

He however added that companies within residential areas that are difficult to identify and to isolate would be affected by the load shedding exercise.