The Ghana National Gas Company has refuted claims that it is due to shut down its operations by December 25 due to an expiration of its insurance policy.

“Ghana Gas has no intention whatsoever in shutting down on the 25th of December. We’ve not announced to anybody, we’ve not communicated that to anybody,” its Corporate Communications Manager at Ghana Gas, Alfred Ogbamey told TV3’s Rabiu Alhasan.

He described as “false assertion,” the reports which triggered concerns over a possible intensification of the electricity crisis which has caused lives and negatively affected businesses across the country.

It was feared a total of 220 megawatts of electricity power could be knocked off the national grid since Volta River Authority would not be getting the natural gas required to produce that amount of power.

It emerged after a crunch meeting between the Ghana Gas and the Energy and Mines committee of parliament that former’s insurance policy would expire by December 25 and that it does not have enough funds to renew the policy.

But Mr Ogbamey said the assertion is false, saying “Our insurance cover has not expired…It expires on the 31 of December.”

On what the Company intends to do upon the expiration of the insurance, he said, “if we have money, we pay and get the insurance cover and continue or we continue without the insurance cover with all the attendant risk.”

Ghana Gas is currently starved of cash to renew the insurance cover and repair a faulty compressor due to the Volta River Authority’s huge indebtedness to the company, TV3 has gathered.

The VRA owes Ghana gas in excess of 187 million dollars for gas supplied, which Mr Ogbamey said the VRA has given some assurances to make payments before close of day December 24.

He said Ghana Gas expects just enough payment to renew its 2.5 million dollar insurance policy and 8 million dollars to replace a faulty compressor.

By tv3network.com