Government to establish oil center in western region

Company News from Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-02-06

Energy Minister Peter Amewu said the government had put plans in place to create an oil hub in the west of the country.

He stated that the aim of the center is to "house a major infrastructure for the refining and processing, unloading, storage, distribution, transportation and trade of petroleum products".

Speaking Tuesday during the series of press meetings in Accra, he said that this shift would position the country as a hub for refined petroleum products in the West African subregion and around the world to medium and long term.

Amewu also said, "The creation of an oil hub is one of the government's strategic initiatives that would serve as a new pillar for the growth of the Ghanaian economy."

The minister also announced that the government would soon amend the country's petroleum laws to strengthen the promotion of local content in the industry.

He added that the Petroleum Committee had been tasked with amending the 2013 Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations (L.I. 2204).

He says that the amendment to parliament will make the law stronger to face the current challenges of the sector. He added that the planned amendments "will also deepen the promotion of the participation of indigenous Ghanaians and local expenditures in the sector".

Amewu also revealed that the government will work with other key players in the upstream oil sector in 2019 to develop a number of other policies for the benefit of industry.

He said that the national policy on technology transfer and the policy of sustainability and social inclusion were among the policies.