FG, Ghana Reach Agreement to Settle N33.8bn Gas Debt in February
The Federal Government has reached an agreement with Ghana on the modalities to settle the outstanding N33.8bn owed by the Volta River Authority (VRA) on gas supplied for power generation by a Nigerian company, N-Gaz.
The highlight of the agreement is that the total sum of gas supply debt will be cleared by February 2016 at the latest.
The agreement which was reached on Monday between a team led by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, stipulated that VRA will pay the balance of August and September invoices by October 31 at the latest.
It was also agreed that all other supplies as from October will be paid for on or before due date while the backlog of arrears from 2012 will be defrayed by February 2016.
It would be recalled that Nigeria had threatened to cut gas supply to Ghana by 70% over a $181 million debt that had accumulated over the years.
The Ghanaian Minister of Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, had led a delegation to Abuja last week to hold talks with Nigerian authorities with a view to resolving the issue.
N-Gaz is a joint venture company owned by NNPC, Shell and Chevron that delivers gas through the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPCo) to Ghana.