Ministries present long-term policy goals to NDPC

The Ministries of Petroleum and Power have presented matters on the State of Fuel and Energy Consumption, their visions and long-term plans towards national prosperity to the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

The Ministries presented these matters at a policy consultation event, organised by the NDPC to find out what the Ministries were doing in their core mission to progress the nation.

Representatives of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) including the Petroleum Commission, National Petroleum Authority, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Ghana National Gas Company, Tema Oil Refinery, Bulk Oil Storage and Transport, Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company Limited and Ghana Oil Company Limited participated in the meeting.

Mr Joseph Ben Okai, the Director of Policy and Planning, Ministry of Petroleum, making a presentation on petroleum production and consumption, said the sector had policy goals and strategies towards creating an enabling environment for sustainable activities in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sector.

Mr Okai said ensuring accelerated and integrated development of the Oil and Gas industry; maximising local content and participation in all aspects of the petroleum industry value chain; and ensuring adequate availability of petroleum products in the Ghanaian market were part of the policy goals and strategies.

He said that the sector also ensured the development of the needed institutional and human resource capacity for the petroleum sector; ensured transparency in the management of petroleum resources and the security for oil and gas installations and operations in the upstream, midstream and downstream.

“As a Ministry, we also wish to mainstream gender into the Petroleum sector where there would be gender equity in the oil and gas industry and women can get the platform to participate in the formulation and implementation of petroleum policies and interventions,” he said.

The Director said that the sector had a policy goal of harmonising sector institutions, policies and legislation to align with the mandate of the new ministry.

Professor Kwesi Botchwey, the Chairman of NDPC, said the Commission launched the 40-year plan and conducted regional consultations of stakeholders to gather the views of the populace.

He said they were currently undergoing a technical and policy consultation to get a better view of the policy terrain.

Prof Botchwey said: “What are the MDAs doing, what are their ongoing plans; and what are their long term plans to ensure that they are properly aligned with the vision of the long-term plans?

“We are in this energy crisis because we didn’t plan ahead and we, therefore, want to avoid repetition of these problems by anticipating population growth, expansion of industries, demand and supply trajectory so that we can put together the infrastructure that we need to bridge this gap.”

The Chairman told the GNA in an interview that the consultations would help institutional and regulatory arrangement as well as the financing that needed to be put in place to ensure that the plan was properly supported.

He said that it would also help incorporate the ideas and plans of the Ministries into the long-term plan in order to remedy the weaknesses in their visions.