Freddie Blay and Igor Ivanovich Sechin exchange pleasantries.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) recently signed a 12-year agreement with Rosneft for the supply of natural gas to Ghana.
The signing took place on the sidelines of the 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at St. Petersburg, Russia.
GNPC Board Chairman, Freddie Blay, signed on behalf of GNPC, with Igor Ivanovich Sechin, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Management Board of Rosneft, signing for his company.
The supply contract is a hybrid Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)/Gas supply agreement, where Rosneft delivers LNG to a regasification terminal located at the Tema Port, to be processed, and the gas delivered to GNPC at the existing Tema metering station.
The gas delivered by Rosneft, in the volume of ca. 1.7 mmtpa (or 250 mmscf per day), will provide a competitive and secure source of fuel, supplying 25% of Ghana’s overall power generating capacity.
Access to LNG places Ghana at the centre of West Africa’s rapidly growing energy market, providing opportunities to create jobs and build local capacity.
GNPC and Rosneft have also agreed to co-operate in the development of opportunities in the upstream and downstream sectors. Rosneft is an established upstream operator.
The GNPC Chairman expressed the hope that “this large transaction will stimulate further opportunities for investment between the two countries, both within the oil and gas sector and beyond. We hope that through this strong co-operation, Ghana can also act as a gateway for Russian investment within the wider West African region.”
Mr Sechin noted that “the signed documents open a new stage in the development of co-operation between Russia and the Republic of Ghana,” adding, “Ghana has placed itself among dynamically developing world economies with the energy demand growing by the year.
Also present in St Petersburg were the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr. Mohamed Amin Adam, Ghana’s Ambassador to Russia, Oheneba Dr. Lesley Akyaa Opoku-Ware and another member of the GNPC board, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi II.
Also in attendance were some members of the GNPC Management team, including Joseph Dadzie, General Manager, Commercial; Matilda Ohene, General Manager, Administration and Board Secretary; Dr Patrick Ofori, Manager Sustainability; Legal Manager, Adwoa Wiafe; and Principal Legal Counsel Louisa Amoako-Quaicoe.
It would be recalled that in September 2017, GNPC entered into a gas sales and purchase agreement (GSA) with Gazprom.
Due to a corporate restructuring, Gazprom’s supply obligations under the GSA have been assumed by Rosneft, an affiliate.
“We are happy to be working with Rosneft on this LNG transaction and already the two parties are looking at greater co-operation and partnership in the upstream sector,” the CEO of GNPC, Dr K. K. Sarpong, said at the end of the Tema LNG negotiations.
Rosneft and Gazprom are both majority owned by the government of the Russian Federation.
Other significant shareholders in Rosneft include BP and Qatar Investment Authority.