Ghana Lost $300M Worth of Natural Gas

According to the 2022 Annual Public Interest Accountability Committee Report on Management and Use of Petroleum Revenue released earlier this week, Ghana lost $300 million worth of natural gas in the upstream petroleum sector through flaring.

The volume of gas flared last year rose by 19.30% to 25.30 billion cubic feet (bcf) compared to a volume of 21.20 bcf recorded in 2021. It also constituted roughly 10% of the total 253.56 bcf of both Associated Gas (AG) and Non-Associated Gas (NAG) produced from the three oil fields of Jubilee.

Gas flaring is defined as the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction. It is regarded as a waste of a valuable natural resource that could be either be utilized for productive purposes such as generating electricity.

In 2022, total production represented a plunge of 7.70% compared to the volume of 256.26 bcf of raw gas produced in the earlier year.

The latest report indicated that the SGN Field produced the highest volume of combined AG and NAG of 129.39 bcf. Meanwhile, the Jubilee and TEN fields produced 68.48 bcf and 55.68 bcf, respectively.

Also, the report breakdown revealed that the gas production from the SGN Field recorded a jump of 6.40% from 121.60 bcf in 2021 to 129.39 bcf in 2022.

NewMed Began Drilling in Cyprus

On Sunday, Israel’s NewMed Energy announced that they began drilling an appraisal well at an offshore Cyprus field, adding that it would take about three months.

The company owns a 30% stake in the Aphrodite gas field, while its partners – Chevron and Shell – hold an estimated 124 billion cubic meters of gas and own 35% share each.

The Aphrodite gas field was discovered in 2011 and is located around 170 kilometers of 105 miles south of Limassol in Cyprus and 30 kilometers or 18 miles northwest of the country’s Leviathan gas reservoir.