Dangote Refinery will transform Ghana’s Downstream Sector –NPA Chief

*Ghanaians are very excited about the prospect of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, says Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, CEO of National Petroleum Authority, Ghana

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) of Ghana, has said the coming on stream of 650,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Dangote Petroleum Refinery, located at Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State, will transform the Ghanaian downstream sector through the reduction in petroleum product importation into the West African country.

Abdul-Hamid, who stated this at the 16th Oil Trading and Logistics Expo, in Lagos, with the theme: “Regulating Downstream Energy Transition in Dynamic Times”, said the completion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery project would be a breakthrough for the West African region.

Dangote Group, in a statement, quoted the NPA CEO to have said that the region, for a long time, had depended on importation of petroleum products from other regions.

Abdul-Hamid also disclosed that Ghana is currently facing the challenge of continuous rise in the costs of petroleum products.

He stated that getting importers to turn their attention to Nigeria, rather than going all the way to The Netherlands for petroleum products importation, would help his country to stem the tide of a continuous increase in the price of fuel.

“The Dangote Petroleum Refinery will have a huge impact on Ghana’s downstream sector.

“Right now, Ghana’s downstream industry is completely deregulated. There is no petrol subsidy in Ghana.

“For a deregulated market where the importers recover their costs fully, importing from Nigeria will certainly be more cost-effective and cheaper than importing from Rotterdam in the Netherlands where we get the bulk of our fuel in Ghana,” said he.

The NPA Chief Executive Officer further noted: “As we all know, the price builds up for a liter of fuel will include the cost of shipment, transportation, insurance, and others.

“But if we are importing from Nigeria into Ghana, this will bring down the cost of fuel in our country. “Ghanaians are very excited about the prospect of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.”

He also said: “Ghana had in the past built a good relationship where we got petroleum products from Nigeria at a reasonable and more affordable cost.

“I believe that the coming on stream of Dangote Petroleum Refinery will further strengthen the existing relationship between Nigeria and Ghana.”

Abdul-Hamid said the Ghanaian Government was also developing a USD60billion petroleum hub project on 20,000 acres in the western part of the country for storage and marine facilities.

He added: “All the above-mentioned projects will help accelerate the petroleum hub, consisting of refineries, and petrochemical development of the continent’s oil and gas resources, by connecting the downstream to the upstream.

“It will promote cleaner fossil fuels and biofuels as the pathway to a just energy transition.

“Gas has been accepted as the transition fuel because gas is the least carbon-emitting fossil fuel.”

Speaking at the event, Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, in Nigeria, said deregulation would increase transparency in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

Aduda, represented at the forum by Mr. Augustine Okwudiafor, Deputy Director in Downstream Department, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, stated that full deregulation in the industry would also create healthy competition among investors.

He also noted that deregulation would give business guarantees to potential investors at the stage of conceptualisation.  Deregulation, Adisa said, would significantly reduce, if not eradicate completely, the diversion and smuggling of petroleum products across Nigerian borders.

The Permanent Secretary stated: “All hands are on deck towards full deregulation of the downstream sector, as this will ensure commercialisation and liberalisation of the sector. “It will also increase investment opportunities, create more jobs and promote a seamless energy transition.

“All these measures and many more will cushion the projected impact of downstream sector deregulation on consumers and the economy at large.”

According to him, data is key in the oil and gas industry, and that any reliable and accurate data will give investors a certain level of assurance.

Harmonisation of Downstream data

He further noted: “Hence, the government is keen and determined to harmonise all downstream data across the relevant agencies and parastatals to eradicate data variations.

“The government, through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, its agencies, and the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, is considering enhanced technologies.

“They include Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor and gather downstream data for effective policy formulation and investment guidance.”

Aduda emphasised that oil is significant in the energy transition space in the sense that oil could be made cleaner through the development and use of appropriate technologies. He said moving the downstream sector forward to that enviable position required collaborative efforts from all stakeholders.

The Permanent Secretary added: “I challenge you all to come along to move the downstream sector towards achieving the downstream we could all be proud of.”