Dr Yusif sulemana, an Energy expert and Senior Oil Production Operations Specialist with Petroleum Development Oman, has advised the government to involve experts with state-of-the-art knowledge in the management team for the petroleum hub project.

He made these remarks on the back of recent news of the Council of State’s approval of the governing body for the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC) to facilitate the development of the US$60 billion project.

Accordingly, the petroleum hub project will see to the development of four key infrastructure namely: refineries, petrol chemical plants, storage facilities and jettys. The Petroleum hub is a complex unit that is going to be like the combination of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) and a Ghana Gas company of a sort, Dr. Sulemana asserted.

“[The government] has just selected leaders from the downstream [sector]; Chamber of Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (CBOD), Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs), and other stakeholders, and that is fantastic!

“…They can still look further for experts who have the state-of-the-art knowledge or in-depth knowledge in the whole of downstream, midstream and even upstream. Because, refinery business is all about numbers, profitability and all about expertise.”
Dr Sulemana, Energy Analyst

Furthermore, he indicated that while the country champions the petroleum hub “we should not lose sight of a [running] refinery.”
He stressed that, going forward, investors will demonstrate keen interest in the country’s track record as well as its ability to manage the 45,000 barrel per stream day refinery of TOR.

“Investors will be looking at how we are going to manage even a 45,000 barrel stream day refinery or how we have been managing it to show commitment into the project.”
Dr. Sulemana, Energy Analyst

That said, the government plans to build four refineries with capacities of about 150,000 bpsd each as part of the project.

Essentially, the country’s record on this front does not look good as TOR’s oil refining capacity of 45,000 barrel per stream day (bpsd) Crude Distillation Unit has been riddled with series of shutdowns and other challenges. Even at the 45,000 bpsd it still falls short of about 55,000 bpsd in current national demand (about 100,000 bpsd).

Need for a Petroleum hub in the age of energy transition

The transition towards renewable energies continue to be a threat to Ghana’s hydrocarbon resources, thus, whether a petroleum hub is relevant in the current circumstances stand debated. Sections of the public believe such an investment may be wasteful in the current context.

“As a project of such nature, it is your ability to package it and let investors know that it is still relevant. Because a lot of people may ask, why this huge project in this era of people gravitating to the world of green energy.”
Dr. Sulemana, Energy Analyst

Dr. Sulemana mentioned that the country is in a very unique situation and this transcends the country’s borders— the African continent as a whole has to tread cautiously with respect to this energy transition conundrum.

Moreover, he stressed that parallel investment— investment into the world of hydrocarbon and also investment into the world of renewable energy, can be done. Therefore, such concerns need not murk the need for such a project.

“The timing cannot be better than now, and it is a project that is worth pursuing,” Dr. Sulemana noted.