Board for $60 billion Petroleum Hub Development Corporation approved
The governing board for the $60 billion valued Petroleum Hub Development Corporation has been constituted by President Akufo-Addo with the approval of the Council of State.
The board following its approval by the Council of State is expected to be sworn into office next week by the Minister for Energy, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh.
Appointed by the President to head the Corporation as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is Charles Owusu, a former petroleum executive.
The governing board constitute Awulae Annor Adjaye ll, Charles Owusu, Kwame Asante Nsiah, Representative of the Free Zone Authority, Humphrey Ayim Darke, Representative of the Association of Ghana Industries, Senyo Kwasi Hosi, Representative of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors.
The rest include: Yaw Agyemang-Duah, an expert in the downstream Petroleum Industry; David Ampofo, Representative of Ghana Upstream Petroleum Chamber; Maame Ofewah Sarpong and Hon. Samuel Erickson Abakah, both being nominees of the President on the Board.
The Corporation is to realise a long-standing dream of getting Africa to set up an integrated petroleum industry that will ensure that the continent better exploits and realises the value chain optimum of its rich oil and gas resources.
The creation of the petroleum hub is seen as timely, as the emerging global energy transition phenomenon requires that oil-rich countries like Ghana look beyond the mere production and sale of crude oil and gas for fuel purposes and for value-addition abroad.
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The President’s vision, according to the policy document, is to develop a modern, diversified, efficient and financially sustainable energy economy that will ensure that all Ghanaian homes and industries have access to an adequate, reliable, affordable and environmentally sustainable supply of energy.
The overall value of the petroleum hub is estimated to be in the range of $60 billion. The entire multi-billion project, though facilitated by Government, is designed to be purely private sector funded, attracting investors across the petroleum value chain.
West Africa’s first integrated oil and gas infrastructure will be set on a 20,000-acre land, Domunli enclave, in the Jomoro Municipality, Western Region. At its peak it can house 3 refineries with 300,000 bps capacity minimum each, 5 petrochemical plants, jetties and port infrastructure, 10 million cubic meters storage tanks, gas infrastructure and ancillary infrastructure.
The role of government, besides setting up the institution to drive the project, is to provide land, offsite infrastructure, tax incentives and other amenities towards the project. The project will be implemented in three phases over the next decade.
