Electricity consumed illegally by expatriate oil companies operating within the restricted enclave of the Ghana Air Force in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis in the Western region is estimated at a little over GH�1million.
Out of that amount, only about GH�200,000 has so far been redeemed by two of the companies � Kosmos Energy and MobiCrane � after they were handed the bills, while other defaulting companies are said to be negotiating to pay the bill.
According to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), its investigations revealed that the total outstanding bill from illegal electricity consumption by the oil companies amounted to GH�1,000,927. 90.
The oil companies are also said to have illegally consumed water in the enclave over the years and the Ghana Water Company is in the process of calculating how much the companies will be required to pay.
Last November, it was detected that expatriate oil, mining and service companies located in the restricted military enclave had been using water and electricity for the past seven years without payment.
That aside, supply vessels serving the offshore oil operation were also reported to have drawn potable water from the Home Port of the Western Naval Command without paying for it.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, officials of the ECG explained that they arrived at the figure by inspecting the equipment on the premises of the companies, the number of hours they worked daily and the number of years they had been operating at the base.
They said after the calculations, Tullow Oil was to pay GH�311,649. 93; Mobicrane, GH�86,457. 98; Kosmos, GH�121,819. 99; Hess, GH�70,000; Stella Logistics with three companies under it, GH�133,000, and a heavy industrial fabrication company with two companies under it, GH�277,000.
The ECG officials said after the discovery, the companies said they were paying huge amounts of money in rent to the Air Force in Takoradi and so they thought utilities were inclusive of the rent.
However, the Air Force Command indicated that the rent agreement with its tenants did not include utility bills.
Officials of the Air Force produced a copy of the agreement between the military and the oil companies to buttress that contention. The agreement clearly showed that utilities, such as water and electricity, were not covered.
Officials of some of the companies which had taken steps to settle their bills said they were working together for the best interest of the country and so if any abnormality had been detected in their operations, it was proper that they be rectified.
Meanwhile, information indicates that the oil companies are making frantic efforts to move out of the military installation to ensure the privacy of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana
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