The decision to cut gas supply to Ghana from Nigeria as a result of a mounting unpaid debt has been deferred.
Nigeria Gas (N-Gas), the company that ships gas to the Volta River Authority (VRA) through the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) had asked that the supply of gas should be curtailed by midnight Thursday, October 15, 2015, if the VRA failed to pay a debt of US$103 million.
But on Friday morning, WAPCo explained that N-Gas has asked it to defer the decision to cut the supply as a result of ongoing negotiations between Ghana and Nigeria over the debt.
"We [WAPCo] received verbal information that pending the outcome of the ongoing discussions, the curtailment has been deferred. So based on that WAPCo did not take any action. What it means is that gas is flowing through the pipeline as we speak," Hariet Wereko Brobbey, Corporate Communications Manager for WAPCo said on Joy FM on Friday morning.
N-Gas had threatened to seal the gas pipeline that supplies gas to thermal plants powered by the Volta River Authority (VRA) over unpaid debts. The VRA currently owes WAPCo to the tune of $103 million.
Against that backdrop, the management of WAPCo last Wednesday held a news conference to express its concern over the debt and threatened to cut gas supply to the country if the VRA failed to pay up the debt.
To forestall the possibility of plunging the country into total darkness, a high-powered government delegation, led by the Power Minister, Dr Kwabena Donkor, and including the Chief Executive of the VRA, Mr Kirk Kwofie, and other officials, travelled to Nigeria to confer with the management of N-Gas to agree on a payment plan to clear the debt.
A source explained that Ghana and Nigeria were able to reach an agreement on Thursday but did not give details of the said agreement.
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