ACCRA, Ghanhas signed an agreement with Gazprom to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Russian energy giant, in a deal with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addofra says will impact the country’s economy positively.

Gazprom, a world leader in gas production, has signed a Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to supply LNG to Ghana to shore up its energy security. The GSA is expected to help Ghana to add some 1,000 megawatts (MW) to the country’s electricity supply after the construction of a regasification plant at Tema, a port city just over 20 kilometres from here.

Speaking when a delegation from Gazprom called on him at his Flagstaff House office here Monday, President Akufo-Addo said the deal was testament of the governments’ efforts to put in place the framework to encourage private sector participation in the growth of Ghana’s economy.

He said his government’s focus was now centred on improving the nation’s power and energy sector, after taking measures to improve the country’s fiscal and monetary policy, as well as improve the economic and business climate.

If we are going to succeed in pushing the industrial development of our country rapidly, the supply of gas to our country is now a matter of very great importance for us, he added.

The President said the agreement, which would save Ghana more than a billion US dollars, replaced two previously signed competing contracts for the same Tema LNG project which were both considered over-priced and over-sized for Ghana.

All of us are going to do whatever we need to do to make sure that this relationship that we have now begun to build (with gazprom) becomes a strong, positive and successful one, he assured the delegation.

Pavel Oderov, the head of International Business at Gazprom, said: “The signing of the GSA is a very big day for us at Gazprom. Indeed, we have signed today the second biggest LNG supply contract in our portfolio.

With Gazprom producing 11 per cent of the world’s gas, we are more than honoured to become a supplier of LNG to Ghana. We are absolutely sure that we will become a reliable partner for the energy industry in Ghana.”

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK