Since the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities in Ghana, the government has, over time, been working feverishly to ensure that the country fully benefits from the blessings of what has been described as ‘black gold’.
One of the major projects it intends to undertake is the development of a petroleum hub for the West African sub-region.
A lot of work had been done in the past, but being one of the present government’s strategic anchor initiatives, the hub project is expected to take off soon, leading to the establishment of Ghana as a petrochemical hub to supply refined petroleum products.
The aim is to meet the demands of the West African sub-region and eventually the entire continent and further develop Ghana’s petroleum downstream sub-sector.
The Cabinet has given approval for the establishment of the much-awaited petroleum hub in the Western Region to house all infrastructure projects in the petroleum industry.
The hub will accommodate a refinery to process crude oil into various petroleum products and manufacturing plants for the processing of fertiliser from the by-products of oil.
The move by the government forms part of a major initiative to create more jobs in the oil and gas sector of the economy and provide investment opportunities for interested companies within and outside Ghana.
The hub, which is expected to cover an area of about 20,000 square kilometres, will be developed using the free zone concept.
The Minister of Energy, Mr John-Peter Amewu, who announced this at a luncheon organised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), Ghana in Accra last Friday, expressed optimism about the project.
The Daily Graphic would want to associate itself with the project, particularly at a time when more discoveries are being made by players in the oil and gas industry in the country.
As we know, the development of the hub will increase the presence of major international oil trading and storage companies, create regional trading champions and encourage joint ventures between local and multinational companies for knowledge transfer and wealth creation.
