Ghana receives $10m from Nigeria for non-delivery of gas

President John Mahama says the power plants that rely on gas from the West Africa Gas Pipeline have been shut down as a result of Nigeria's failure to provide enough of gas in accordance with the contract.

he said Nigeria has paid to Ghana an amount of $10 million in penalties for failing to deliver the quantity of gas spelt out under the West African Gas Pipeline project.

The populous West African country was expected to provide at least 120 million cubic feet of gas daily but it has consistently defaulted.

The failure of Nigeria to meet its contractual obligations to Ghana has led to a protracted power crisis in the country.

Officials of the Ghana Grid Company earlier this week indicated they have been forced to shed between 400 and 600 megawatts of power due to the inconsistent and reduced supply of power from the local power generators who also blame their inability to generate more power on the insufficient supply of gas from Nigeria through the West African Gas pipeline.

Speaking to the Ghanaian community in Germany, President John Mahama said some power plants have been shut down because there is no gas.

While complaining about Nigeria's failure to meet its contractual obligations and its attendant effects on power supply in Ghana, the President confirmed the country has received  an amount of $10 million in penalties from Nigeria.

He said that amount is nothing compared to the cost of the power crisis Ghana has been saddled with as a result of Nigeria's failure to satisfy the contractual terms.

President John Mahama said the country is looking at developing its own gas reserves.

"Potentially we can get 150 million standard cubic  feet from the Jubilee field, we are developing the TEIN field which will come on stream in 2016 and that again can provide us with between 50-80 million standard cubic feet.

"So going forward we are looking at about  between 300-350 million standard cubic feet which will be very important in generating power and ensuring energy security for us," he stated.