Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has said government is seeking capital for the establishment of a petroleum hub to maximize the country’s oil resources.
According to him, moves to establish a petroleum hub in the country is vital to the development of the country.
He noted that the country has vast tapped and untapped oil and gas resources.
Speaking at Ghana Investment Forum at the 2022 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston Texas, Dr. Amin Adam said, “Government has, therefore, designated a free zone area for the development of petroleum and petrochemical refineries, storage, and transportation facilities for the export of products to largely African markets. This requires collaboration with the private sector to achieve the objectives of the Hub.”
The deputy minister urged investors to prioritize Ghana as it offers the best possible investment environment in the sub-region.
“Our petroleum fiscal regime is investor-friendly offering higher returns to investors, the licensing regime is transparent, and provides investor certainty and flexibility,” Dr. Amin Adam advocated.
Touching on efforts aimed at improving the petroleum industry, the Deputy Energy Minister said the Government of Ghana has in the last two years amended a number of petroleum regulations.
He explained these regulations will allow for the exploration in production and development areas without a requirement for a new petroleum agreement.
“We also provided flexibility in determining the size of a development and production area to prevent potential assets near field from being stranded,” he added.
Despite Ghana having a number of oil fields, the country still imports millions of dollars worth of refined petroleum products annually while its producing capacity stood at 174,000 barrels per day as of October 2021.
This disparity, however, is due to the inability of the state-owned Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to refine crude oil for domestic use and export purposes in order to improve revenue and serve other neighbouring countries.
Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Minister of Energy