Ghana Gas owes GNPC $604m as at the end of December 2023

It has been established that Ghana National Gas Company Limited (GNGCL) received a total volume of 35,690.20 mmscf raw gas from the Jubilee and TEN Fields in 2023, as compared to 39,663mmscf in 2022. This translates into a reduction of 10 percent.

The GNGCL overall indebtedness to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), as at the end of 2023 was $604,051,751.38.

Based on the 35,690.20 mmscf supplied, average volume of gas received from GNPC declined from 3,305 mmscf per month in 2022 to 2,974 mmscf per month in 2023.

The downturn was largely due to upstream supply constraints. Raw gas received by GNCCL is processed into Lean gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Condensates.

The total volume of Lean Gas, LPG and condensates processed from the jubilee Field was 32,977.56mmscf, 99,15093 and 35,20373 MT respectively in 2023.

That implied that Lean Gas and LPG volumes declined by 11.2 percent and 149 percent respectively, while the volume of condensates increased by 11.2 percent between the two periods.

This was contained in the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) 2023 annual report of the management and use of petroleum revenue.

RECEIPTS

That apart, GNGCL also received $271,493,365.62 as payments from the sale of LPG, Lean Gas and stabilised Condensates produced in 2023. The reported revenue also included payment for invoices issued in 2022.

As at December 2023, the company’s cumulative outstanding receivables, including legacy debts preceding the introduction of the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP), amounted to $954, 554, 67549.

In 2023, the total volume of processed derivatives of Lean gas, LPG and Condensates that were dispatched to clients amounted to 117,956,609.71MMBtu, 95,605.53MT and 12,806.65MT respectively.

The nominal invoice value of the derivative product was $334,023,650.90 which was a 6.8% decline relative to the invoice value of $358,304,405.18 reported in 2022.

The total volume of Lean Gas sold by GNGCL was 117,956,609.71MMBtu in 2023 relative to 118,799,496.14MMBtu in 2022.

This is equivalent to a downturn of 0.7 percent. On the other hand, the monetary value of the Lean Gas sales increased by 9.4% to $284,302,438.91 in 2023 from $259,968,833.64 in 2022.

This increase is as a result of the 2023 increase in tariff from the first quarter prices to the fourth quarter, as compared to that of the tariff applied in 2022.

Previous years, the sale of Lean Gas was the largest source of GNGCL revenue in 2023. The revenue from the sale constituted 84 percent of the company’s revenue in 2023, which was an improvement over the previous year’s outturn of 726 percent.

However, the largest client of GNGCL in terms of volume was ENI in respect of gas transporter service charges. Its share in the total volume of gas sold was 66.2% in 2023 which translates into a nominal value of 781,140,081.88MMBtu.

Ordinarily, the largest client in terms of volume purchased should be the same as that of the largest client with respect to value.

However, this was not the case due to the differential prices at which lean gas was sold to the various. This non-uniformity in the tariff applied by GNGCL was due to the type of services provided to the various customers.

Total volume of Liquefied Petroleum Gas sold by GNGCL declined from 113.300.51MT in 2022 to 95,605.53MT in 2023. This represents a reduction of 156%.

In terms of revenue, the net proceeds from the sale of LPG amounted to $43,277,473.96 in 2023 relative to the revenue of $75,056,054.95 recorded in 2022. This represents a decline of 42.3%. The downturn in net revenue was largely attributable to the relatively low volumes of LPG sold in 2023.

CONDENSATES

The volume of condensates sold fell sharply from 30,471.95MT in 2022 to 12,806.65MT in 2023. This translates to a year-on-year decline of 137.94%. This was as a result of no sale of Condensates from October to December 2023. However, the product was in storage at the Tema Oil Revenue (TOR).

Revenue realised from the sale of condensates in 2023 was $6,472,663.42 as compared to $23,279,516.59 in 2022 representing a decrease of 72.2%.

The marked reduction in revenue was primarily a function of the downturn in the volume of Condensates sold in 2023 relative to the preceding year.

GAS INDEBTEDNESS

The cumulative indebtedness of GNGCL to Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) for the supply of raw gas stood at $604,051,751.38 at the end of December 2023, which was a 78% increment on the cumulative stock debt of $560,400,710.88 recorded at the end of 2022. According to GNGCL, the rise in its indebtedness to GNPC was primarily due to the inability of the VRA to meet its debt service obligation.

The post Ghana Gas owes GNPC $604m as at the end of December 2023 appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.

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