The Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has announced the arrival of a vessel carrying 450,000 barrels of light crude oil to replenish Ghana’s fuel stock. This comes after he disclosed last week that the country had only 2.6 days of fuel left.
In an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Jinapor said the vessel had begun discharging fuel needed to power thermal plants across the country.
“The vessel has arrived. We are okay with the fuel. We are going to start the discharge,” Mr Jinapor said, addressing public concerns following his earlier disclosure to Parliament.
He explained that the fuel order had been placed over a month ago, taking into consideration the time needed to transport it from Nigeria to Ghana.
Mr Jinapor assured the public that there was no cause for alarm, stating that the country’s power system was under proper management.
He also rejected suggestions that his earlier statement to Parliament’s Committee on Mines and Energy was intended to create panic.
“The statement was not meant to create panic at all, and it was not even a press statement to the public. I was briefing the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy,” he clarified.
In addition to the light crude oil, the Minister disclosed that his ministry had secured supplies of heavy fuel oil and diesel to maintain power generation at thermal plants.
Mr Jinapor noted that when the current administration assumed office, the power shortfall stood at approximately 780 megawatts. He stated that through effective management and timely fuel procurement, load-shedding had been eliminated.
He further revealed that the government had successfully averted a planned shutdown by power producer Karpower through negotiations.
“Karpower had threatened that they would shut down. We’ve resolved the matter. The shutdown is no more coming. That’s not grumbling. That’s solving the problem,” he added.
ALSO READ: