Add value to crude - Jantuah

Energy analyst Kwame Jantuah has called for the expansion of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) in order to refine crude from Ghanaian production fields for local consumption.

According to Mr Jantuah, the country cannot continue to import refined oil while holding huge stocks of crude in its reserves.

Currently, all the oil produced at Jubilee and TEN fields are exported in their raw form. Speaking on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class 91.3FM on Wednesday August 31, Mr Jantuah said some amount of the crude should be kept for local use.

He told show host Prince Minkah that: “We have jubilee, in six years we’ve got the TEN project going. After TEN, there are others coming into production. OCTP, Sankofa is also coming into production. Government has signed nearly 20 oil contracts with companies who have blocks. They will all start production between 2018 and 2025. So you can see the amount of oil revenue that is going to come into the economy. So if that is the case, are we still going by the same mantra we went with cocoa, we went with gold where we are exporting whole? Or do we say that a certain portion will be exported whole and value will be added to a certain portion?”

“Now where TOR is concerned, we will need to expand it to be able to refine our own fuel for Ghanaians. The key there is that you do now have to expend foreign exchange out in bringing refined petroleum products in and to be able to do that you need a good refinery and you save a lot of money that way”.