Sinopec to pre-finance, build first Ghana gas plant ahead of $3b China loan disbursement
Chinese firm Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation says it will be pre-financing the construction of Ghana’s first gas infrastructure scheduled to be completed by 2012 end after it signed an agreement with the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas).
Officials said November 24, 2011 that the gas infrastructure, including a gas processing plant to be sighted in the Western Region, is fully funded from a $3 billion loan provided by the China Development Bank (CDB) to the Ghana government but the start of work will be pre-funded by Sinopec.
In a government statement, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Gas, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, explained that “while it will be funded from the China Development Bank (CDB) facility approved by Parliament in August this year, the Chinese firm will pre‐finance the start of work pending the release of the funds by the CDB.”
“This means that there’ll be no time wasted, and we have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the gas infrastructure is put in place as soon as possible while holding ourselves in readiness for the disbursement of the CDB facility”, said Dr Yankey
The statement said Ghana should have a functioning gas processing plant and infrastructure linking the FPSO to the processing plant and to Aboadze and Prestea through Esiama by December 2012.
“Sinopec will construct and commission the 150 MMSCFD Gas Processing Plant, a 36-kilometre shallow water offshore pipeline from the FPSO to the Plant, a 120-kilometre onshore pipeline from the gas processing plant to Aboadze, a 75kilometre onshore pipeline from Esiama to Prestea, a jetty for the export of natural gas liquids and an operations and control office complex,” the statement said.
Dr Yankey, according to the statement said French company, Technip, has been contracted and is working on the engineering design of the gas processing plant while Intecsea/Worley Parson of Houston, USA, is handling the engineering design of the offshore pipeline from the FPSO to the gas processing plant, which is almost complete.
By Ekow Quandzie