Court orders halt to building work at gas facility

A high court in Ghana’s western region has ordered the state-run Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) to stop construction at a gas plant until the government pays land compensa­tion to local chiefs. The traditional chiefs went to court and obtained a 14-day interim restraining order against Ghana Gas.

The $650 million plant is designed to process gas from the offshore Jubilee field but comple­tion has been delayed, curbing oil production capacity in Ghana. “We are in talks with the chiefs and we will be going back to court quickly to have the restraining or­der lifted so that work can continue while we also sort out the compensation issues amicably, Alfred Ogbamey, Ghana Gas spokesman said. The company still has to tie deep water pipes to offshore production to make its September completion target, he added.

Ghana Gas in February signed an agreement with Tullow Oil, lead operators of the Jubilee field. The government hopes that the gas project’s completion will boost power supply and help reduce spending on light crude imports for thermal power generation.

Source by: Ghana/ Business Day