VRA Caught In US$104m Atuabo Gas Debt

The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has revealed the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) is indebted to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to the tune of US$103.63 million as at June, 2015.

The debt is as a result of the Volta River Authority’s (VRA) inability to pay for gas supplied by Ghana Gas.

The revelation was contained in PIAC’s 2015 Semi-Annual Report released recently.

According to the report, no revenue was generated from the gas sector even though 10,606 mmBTU of wet gas valued at US$32.60 million was evacuated to the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant. This receivable, payable by Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), represents approximately 77% of revenue expected from gas during the period.

The report also mentioned that total petroleum receipts during the first half of the year under review declined sharply US$274.47 million compared to US$562.48 million received during the same period in the preceding year, representing a 56% decline in revenue.

The decline in revenues was attributable to a sharp decline in global crude oil prices which affected all sources of petroleum revenues.

The report recommended that the Ghana National Gas Company must ensure that all outstanding receivables in respect of lean gas sold to VRA is paid as a matter of urgency so as to guard against the GNGC falling into the never-ending cycle of indebtedness prevalent in the power sector.