Takoradi now expensive city due to oil discovery

The discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities at the West Cape Three Points in the Western Region in 2007 has triggered the high cost of liv­ing in Takoradi and its immediate environs in recent times.

Since the oil find three years ago, the cost of living in Tako­radi and surrounding communi­ties has been on the ascendancy.

The discovery of oil has brought in its wake an upward review of prices of all items, goods and services being pro­vided in the city.

The most affected items include food, office and resi­dential accommodation as well as land for real estate develop­ment.

As a result of the oil find and in anticipation of making good business when commer­cial production of oil many companies, including financial and banking institutions, have moved in to open branches of their offices in Takoradi to take advantage of the “black gold”.

Also many oil and gas related companies have found their way into Takoradi. This has obviously increased the popula­tion in Takoradi and its envi­rons, thereby putting pressure on the inadequate housing and office accommodation in the city.

Landlords have started charging exorbitant prices on their houses in anticipation of ejecting tenants to enable the landlords to rent such houses to the oil companies as well as financial and banking institu­tions.

High prices of goods and services, as well as residential and office accommodation are now having the characteristics of gold mining communities and towns such as Tarkwa, Obuasi, Bibiani, Bogoso, Prestea.

These characteristics are gradually creeping into Takoradi and its surrounding commu­nities as a result of the discov­ery of the “black gold” in the     Western Region.

Land acquisition in Takora­di and nearby communities, dis­tricts and municipalities in the areas of the Jubilee Oil Fields at Cape Three Points have also become a lucrative venture for land owners.

Some open spaces in Tako­radi have been offered for the construction of office accommodation for oil or oil related companies and shopping malls.

The emerging petroleum industry is also affecting the prices of hotel accommodation in Takoradi, as some of the leading hotels in the “oil city” have reviewed their prices upwards.

The prices range between GH¢120 and GH¢310.00 and are likely to go up in the future when there would be an influx of people in the city to do business in the oil and gas industry.

To sum it up, the cost of liv­ing in Takoradi and its environs is gradually becoming unbear­able as prices of goods and ser­vices as well as office and resi­dential accommodation contin­ue to rise.

So residents of Takoradi should be prepared and condition themselves to face the hard days ahead when the country’s oil and gas are in full produc­tion.

Source: Daily Graphic

Mills makes first international trip in new Presidential Jet

President Mills made his first flight with the new Presidential Jet, FALCON 900, on Sunday which taxied and took off smoothly into the sky from the Kotoka International Airport.

The President left Accra with the jet to Tripoli, Libya, to attend the third Africa-European Summit, which opens on Monday, November 29, 2010.

In an interview with Journalists at the Airport, Mr Koku Anyidoho, Director of Communications at the Presidency, debunked an allegation that President Mills would not used the new jet.

He said the Presidency would only accept the express advice on the security and safety of the aircraft for official trips from the managers of the aircraft, the Ghana Air Force.

Mr Anyidoho said information from the Ghana Air Force attested to the fact that the new jet since its arrival had to undergo certain routine checks to ascertain its readiness to successfully embark on official trips.

On the two-day Africa-European Summit, which is on the theme: “Investment, Economic Growth and Job Creation”, Mr Anyidoho said it would address key issues of peace and security, climate change, regional integration, private sector development, infrastructure and energy, economic co-operation, and the Millennium Development Goals, agriculture and food security and migration.

Vice President John Dramani Mahama, national security heads, Ministers of State and other dignitaries saw the President off at the Jubilee side of the Airport.

Source: GNA

Jubilee test run yields between 20,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil per day

The Jubilee oil field has began yielding between 20,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil per day in test runs ahead of commercial production of oil, the Daily Graphic newspaper has reported.

The newspaper citing Mr. Kwame Ntow, the Head of Economic Evaluation at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) said the quantity will be increased to 100,000 barrels when mainstream production is attained by the end of the first quarter of 2011.

Mr. Ntow told the newspaper that the oil is being pumped as part of a test run of equipment at the largest oil field to be discovered in West Africa in the last 10 to 15 years. The Jubilee oil field according to Tullow Oil, the major stakeholder in the field has 17 wells and contains 1.5 billion barrels of oil.
Output is expected to peak to 120,000 barrels per over approximately six months, he said.

Tullow Oil had said in its Interim Management Statement that commercial production of oil will begin early December 2010, and they were expecting to pump about 50,000 barrels of oil per day.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

ghanabusinessnews.com

I felt like giving up after winning the crown – Miss Ghana 2010

The reigning Miss Ghana 2010, Stephanie Karikari, has said comments that came after her crowning that she didn’t have the looks to be crowned Miss Ghana made her feel like giving up. 

Stephanie, 18, who hails from Atwima Nkakom in the Ashanti region was crowned Miss Ghana 2010 on October 30 at the Accra International Conference Centre after dazzling the judges and audience at the finale.

There were sharp and sometimes harsh comments following her crowing as the country’s foremost beauty queen with many saying she was not beautiful enough for the crown.

But the queen, speaking in an interview with Myjoyonline.com Thursday, said “comments that were made made me feel like giving up” and that the comments were unfair.

She said the pictures used by the media to tell the story were hers alright but they were not a true reflection of who she really was.

“The picture used for the story was my picture but not a nice picture of me,” she lamented.

Nevertheless, Stephanie said she did not think the comments were too harsh enough to bring her down.

“I have always been strong…I am now stronger…People have their own perception of people.”

Recounting her journey to winning the crown, the outspoken queen said it has always been a childhood dream to be a model not a beauty queen. That, she said, came in along the way.

“I have been dreaming of being a model. It was an inborn dream to be a model and as the years went by, the beauty queen aspect came in.”

She revealed that she took a crazy gamble to audition for this year’s pageant, adding that she hardly believed she will end up wining the crown. “I wasn’t aware I could win.”

That gamble, she recounted, came after persistent pressures from close relations that she could do it.

Stephanie who is based in Accra said due to busy schedules in school, she decided to be the early bird by auditioning in the Northern zone in Tamale which was the first stop of the auditions.

In Tamale, Stephanie was faced with the daunting task of proving her worth, fighting her way through 40 equally good ladies who turned up for the audition.

Although she was scared, the zeal in her pushed her to be among the five selected finalists from that audition.

The road leading to the finale was a different story on its own but the now beauty queen revealed that she, together with another contestant, Frances Effibah Nyamikeh, who ended up as the first runner up, nearly missed out on the final rehearsal on the morning of the finale as they were left behind at their hotel.

Things got emotional when she shed tears on the night before the finale, giving her the constant urge to pull out of the contest.

“I cried before the show…I didn’t expect to win the crown…I nearly gave up at the last minute because I thought I will not win.”

She said after they, the finalists, answered their final questions and were at the backstage, she got shocked when she was told she was the winner of the coveted pageant.

Stephanie owned her success at the end to her diversity and the fact that she gave her all at the finale.

Born in Accra some 18 years ago, Stephanie was taken to Botswana some months after birth. She lived in Botswana for 14 years, returning to Ghana in 2006.

For now, the beauty queen said she is enjoying the stardom the crown holds but added she will be a queen with a difference as she prepares to embark on her Maternal Health and Sanitation project.

She revealed she took up that project after she experienced the challenges nursing mothers and nurses were going through at the Tarkwa Government Hospital.

Stephanie said she hopes, together with Ministry of Health, to fight for better working conditions for nurses and also to help educate expectant and nursing mothers on child birth and care.

She also hopes to help them improve on their well being.

Story Ernest Dela Aglanu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana