The West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo)
on Tuesday stated that it had suspended the flow
of gas from Nigeria to Ghana over unpaid bills by
the Ghanaian government.
The General Manager, Corporate Affairs of WAPCo,
Mrs. Harriet Wereko-Brobby, disclosed that Ghana’s
state power producer, Volta River Authority, owed
Nigeria’s N-Gas around $180 million, while N-Gas
in turn owed WAPCo $104 million.
The Federal Government and Ghanaian government,
last year, called for amicable resolution of the debt
owed to WAPCo and gas suppliers by the Volta
River Authority’s (VRA) of Ghana.
WAPCo, a limited liability company, which owns
and operates the West African Gas Pipeline
(WAGP), is a joint venture between public and
private sector companies from Nigeria, Benin, Togo
and Ghana with a mandate to transport natural gas
from Nigeria to customers in Benin, Togo and
Ghana in a safe, responsible and reliable manner, at
prices competitive with other fuel alternatives.
The WAPCo Managing Director, Mr. Walter Perez,
had disclosed that because of the huge debt, the
company would curtail gas delivery to VRA.
The cut in gas supply to VRA, it was learnt, would
negatively affect electricity supply to Ghana, which
made the governments of the two countries to
support amicable solution to the debt crisis.
VRA and its gas shipper, N-Gas, which is a joint
venture company owned by NNPC, Shell and
Chevron that deliver gas through the WAGPCo to
Ghana, had been in discussion, with the support of
governments of the two countries.
Perez had said: “Since August 2014, VRA has
received natural gas and pipeline-related
transportation services totaling USD 231 million
through the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP).
“As of today, VRA has paid only USD46 million of
this amount. Of the outstanding balance of USD185
million, VRA owes USD109 million to WAPCo with
the balance being owed to the other parties in the
gas supply chain.
“WAPCo has regularly engaged VRA, the Ghana
Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC),
the relevant ministries, and even the highest level of
the government to find a solution to this situation
before it reached crisis level. Unfortunately, these
efforts have not achieved the desired result.
“In doing so, N-Gas informed WAPCo of the intent
of one of its major gas suppliers, Nigerian National
Petroleum Company (NNPC), to curtail gas supply
as a result of N-Gas being in payment default due
to the inability of VRA to settle its gas supply and
gas transportation invoices.”
