Ghana Produces 700,000 barrel of oil a day...

...Kofi Asante tells gov’t to come clean on oil finds

THE MINORITY Spokesman on Energy, Hon. Abraham Kofi Asante, has called on the government to explain how it is factoring the crude oil currently being produced from the test wells of Saltpond in the Central Region into Ghana’s petroleum distribution system.

Kofi Asante, who is also MP for Amenfi West in the Western Region, said his own investigations had established that Ghana is currently producing 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day, but the government has failed to inform Ghanaians whether the crude oil is refined in the country or exported to generate foreign exchange.

The MP who was among the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy that toured the Western power project site at Effasu-Mangyea in the Jomoro district of the Western region last Thursday, told reporters that Ghana at the moment needs petroleum products baldly and therefore the earlier the government comes out on the issue the better it would be for all Ghanaians.

Touching on the Tano oilfields project which is being sponsored by the government of Ghana and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Asante said information made available to him indicated that Ghana at the moment has a gas deposit of 850billion barrels.

He could not, however, tell the reporters the gas deposit at the Tano basing which would soon be explored to fire the power barge at Effasu-Mangyea but said it has a life span of between 12 and 15yrs.

This the minority spokesman on Energy explained makes it expedient for the government to pursue and sign an agreement with Ivory Coast for the construction of pipelines to wheel some of their gas reserve to Effasu.

He again called on the government to make sure that the proposed West Africa gas project reaches Effasu.

If this is done, Ghana can be sure of adequate gas reserve to continuously fire the barge after that of Tano oil fields has been depleted, he said adding that Ghana has sunk a lot of money into the Western Power Project.

He therefore argued that there is the need to come out with a strategic plan to ensure good returns on such a huge investment.

According to him, Parliament on its part has approved the deal between the government of Ghana and a foreign company to explore the gas at Tano Oilfields to fire the 125 megawatts barge which is expected to arrive in the country within the next two months.