Source: newsthemegh.com
The upstream petroleum industry lost 25.3 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas worth approximately $ 169 million as a result of flaring.
The Management and Use of Petroleum Revenue: 2022 Annual Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) Report has been released.
When compared to the 21.2 bcf reported in 2021, the amount of natural gas flared in 2022 increased by 19.3%.
The combined amount of Associated Gas (AG) and Non-Associated Gas (NAG) generated from the three oil fields of Jubilee, Sankofa Gye-Nyame (SGN), and Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) was 253.56 bcf, or around 10%.
About 47 billion cubic feet (bcf), worth $300 million, was lost to flaring between 2019 and 2021, according to a report by the energy think tank African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) titled “The State of the Energy and Extractive Sectors of Ghana: Critical Reforms Required for Sustainable Economic Recovery.”
According to the Civil Society Organization, the gas was flared at a time when domestic demand for processed gas, also known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), was increasing exponentially and increasing imports.
Flaring is known to have a detrimental environmental impact and to contribute to global warming, in addition to the economic losses it causes.
Burning of natural gas in connection with oil extraction is known as gas flaring. It is viewed as a waste of an important natural resource that may either be saved or utilised for useful uses like producing power.
The PIAC report, released on April 20, 2023, reported that the total production year 2022 reflected a production decline of 7.7% when compared to the amount of 256.26 bcf of raw gas generated in 2021.
It is estimated that flaring of 25.3 bcf of gas had resulted in a loss of roughly $169 million based on invoiced amounts on Gas from the Jubilee and TEN Fields, where the export volume of 31.6 bcf converted to US $211.5 million.
Vice Chair of PIAC Nasir Alfa Mohammed said gas flare-ups continue because of insufficient funding and a lack of facilities for storing and using the resource.
According to the report, the SGN Field produced the most combined AG and NAG, totaling 129.39 BCF, followed by the Jubilee and TEN Fields, which produced 68.48 BCF and 55.68 BCF, respectively.
According to the report’s breakdown, gas production from the SGN field increased by 6.4% in 2022, from 121.6 billion cubic feet (bcf) in 2021 to 129.39 bcf in 2022.
3.56 billion cubic feet of gas were flared overall for the time period, whereas 52.87 billion cubic feet of gas were used for injection, 67.9 billion cubic feet of gas were exported to the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), and 4.07 billion cubic feet were utilized as fuel.
Gas production in the Jubilee fields fell by 2.9% from 70.53 bcf in 2021 to 68.48 bcf in 2022.
Additionally, a total volume of 3.76 bcf, or 5% of the total gas generated, was utilized to power gas turbine generators, while a volume of 17.43 bcf, or 25% of the total gas produced, was injected for pressure support.
On the Kwame Nkrumah (KNK) Floating Production Storage Offloading Vessel (FPSO), 11.41 bcf, or 17% of the total gas generated, was flared, while 35.88 bcf, or 52% of the gas produced, was exported to GNGC.
Additionally, it was noted that TEN Field gas production fell by 13.2% from 64.13 bcf in 2021 to 55.68 bcf in 2022.
A volume of 10.33 bcf, or 19% of the total gas produced in the field, was flared, while around 68% of the 38.03 bcf volume was used as gas injection for pressure support.
3.78 bcf of gas, or 7% of the total volume generated, was also exported to GNGC, while 3.53 bcf, or 6% of the total volume produced, was used as fuel.