Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid says demand for petroleum products in the country has seen significant growth from an average of 7 to 41 percent in 2021.
According to him, the unprecedented surge in consumption is as result of
various technological based schemes and interventions being implemented by the
downstream regulator to curb illicit fuel activities over the past few months.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid said this at the official opening of the 5th Edition of the
Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCon), in Accra on Wednesday, 28th
September 2022,
The 3-day conference is on the theme “Energy Transition in the African
Petroleum Downstream Context: Prospects, Challenges and the Way Forward”.
He mentioned that the sector currently has annual sales value of GHC32.94
billion representing a contribution of 7.2 percent to Ghana’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP).
“Africa’s petroleum downstream sector is entering a new era. As the world looks
to accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels, the pressures on our industries
are mounting,” he said.
“We are all exposed to the global energy transition, as our countries depend on
oil and gas revenues. Ghana’s petroleum downstream industry which has an annual
sales value of about GHS32.94 billion according to 2021 estimates contributes
7.2% of the country’s GDP.”
“This represents a 41% increase in demand for fossil fuels as compared to 2020.
This is an unprecedented surge in consumption of fossil fuels when the annual
average over the years had been between 5% and 7%,” The NPA Chief Executive
stated.
He emphasized that Ghana is committed to reducing the emissions from
consumption of energy products.
“We at the National Petroleum Authority are committed to reducing the emissions
from the energy products we consume in Ghana, and this culminated to the
reduction of sulphur content in transport and industrial fuels from a maximum
of 5000ppm to a maximum of 50ppm.”
“As previously mentioned, Ghana is one of the few African countries that
consume low Sulphur fuels, with a roadmap for local refineries to comply,” he
said.
Dr Abdul Hamid further charged participants at this year’s conference to
deliberate on the key issues with a focus to devise strategies for deployment.
Speaking on behalf of the Energy Minister, a Deputy Minister of Energy, William
Owuraku Aidoo, says Ghana remains committed to an energy transition agenda and
the development of the petroleum industry.
“Ghana remains committed to both an energy transition agenda and the
development of its petroleum industry, including downstream sector, we believe
that the way forward is to strike an important and fair balance between the two
without compromising our determination to maximize the benefits we need for our
industrialization,” he said.
“I am convinced beyond measures that the conference will provide significant
outcomes to guide us on the way forward, and I look forward to further
engagements in this direction,” he added.
He further charged players in the West Africa Sub region to improve refinery
capacity to produce high-quality fuels to reduce Green House Gas emissions.
The conference is being organized by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in
collaboration with the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA)
under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy and the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil
Distributors (CBOD).
It has attracted major players including CEOs, experts and decision makers in
the petroleum sector across the West Africa Sub Region.
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com