Ghana has commenced the construction of a 300,000 barrel-per-day crude oil refinery that its government hopes will make it a major petroleum exporter in West Africa.
“The project promises to be a cornerstone of our nation’s development,” Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo said on Monday at the site of the project in the southwestern city of Jomoro, which will also include petrochemical plants.
Phase one of the project, estimated to cost $12 billion, will be funded and constructed by a consortium of Touchstone Capital Group Holdings, UIC Energy Ghana, China Wuhan Engineering Co., and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co, he said on state-owned Ghana Television (GTV), according to Reuters.
The report noted that West Africa consumes about 800,000 bpd, according to the African Refiners and Distributors Association, of which almost 90% is imported. The proposed Ghana crude oil refinery aims to supply enough refined and by-products to supply the region by 2036, according to an agreement signed in June 2018.
Similarly, Uganda is exploring for oil in two new regions where potential discoveries of crude could increase the country’s proven reserves of 6.5 billion barrels.
Reuters reported that commercial quantities of crude oil were discovered in the Albertine Graben basin in Uganda’s west near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo nearly two decades ago, but production is not projected to start until next year.
In a press conference on Wednesday in the capital Kampala, the Uganda Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said Government geologists are exploring two new regions located in Uganda’s north and northeast.
“The ministry is conducting preliminary petroleum exploration studies in the Moroto-Kadam Basin to assess its oil and gas potential. Similar surveys have started in the Kyoga Basin. Early results suggest the potential for commercial oil and gas in the Moroto-Kadam Basin,” she said, referring to the two new regions.
