Ghana National Oil Company to Take Over State Gas Firm

Ghana's state oil company can take over the much-smaller national gas firm under a deal approved by the government, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said on Wednesday during the annual budget.

The deal will bring Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) finance to a Ghana Gas pipeline and processing facility that transports gas from the offshore Jubilee oilfield onshore for domestic use, according to a senior GNPC official.

The $750-million Atuabo gas facility in western Ghana is crucial to easing an energy shortage that has contributed to a slowing of the economy and the advent of domestic gas will also boost government revenue, Terkper told parliament.

GNPC will create a subsidiary company to manage Atuabo, said the official, who gave no details of the cost of the takeover.

"It will make it possible to ease the conditions that investors impose for the national gas aggregator. It is expected that they will start financing projects in the oil-and-gas enclave immediately," said the official who declined to be named.

GNPC is a 13.6 percent stakeholder in Jubilee and has a strategic goal of becoming an independent oil operator. It is in talks with commodities trader Trafigura and several banks over a $700 million five-year loan.

(Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by David Evans)