New US$1.98 billion oil refinery opens in August; plans to produce 5m MT of petroleum products

A US$1.98 billion oil refinery facility at Tema is scheduled to commence operation by end of August this year.

The refinery, which is the latest investment of the Sentuo Group, is expected to produce five million metric tonnes of petroleum products including liquified petroleum gas (LPG), jet fuel, gasoline, diesel, and fuel oil.

When operational, the company, which is registered under the government’s One

District One Factory (1D1F) programme, would provide employment to more than 900 Ghanaians.

During a tour of the facility by the Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T. Hammond, on Monday, the Executive Chair­man of Sentuo Group, Xu Ning Quan, said the company was in discussions with the Ministry of Energy to acquire 500,000 barrels of crude oil from Ghana’s oil fields for its first production.

By 2025, he said, the refin­ery would refine 4.26 million tonnes of refined petroleum products such as gasoline, ker­osene, and diesel of high quali­ty above the euro iv standard.

Additionally, the refinery would produce 350,000 tonnes of a series of pitch products, 200,000 tonnes of lubricating base oil and solvent naphtha, and 400,000 tonnes of by-prod­ucts such as polypropylene, ammonium sulphate, sulfuric acid, and sulphur, he added.

Mr Quan noted that the refinery’s output would meet Ghana’s annual demand for petroleum products adding that it would help deal with chal­lenges confronting importation of petroleum products.

“In 2022, Ghana consumed 4.22 million metric tonnes of refined petroleum products.

With an output of 4.26 mil­lion metric tonnes of refined petroleum products, the Sentuo Oil Refinery will produce up to 100 per cent of Ghana’s demand for refined petroleum products,” he stated.

Mr Quan said the company would support government’s revenue generation through payment of taxes as well as enhance Ghana’s foreign ex­change savings.

“Ghana stands to benefit an estimated US$1.5 billion annually in foreign exchange savings from the production of 4.26 metric tonnes of refined petroleum products locally as against the importation of such products,” he said.

He called on the Ministry of Finance to expedite consider­ation of the company’s request for waiver of taxes to support the company’s operations.

On his part, Mr. K.T Ham­mond described the refinery as an “important industrialisation facility that has resulted from the 1D1F policy”.

He said the government recognises value addition and reduction of the country’s imports bill as key elements to­wards the building of a resilient economy.

The government, he noted, was committed to providing the needed support to the refinery to ensure its success adding that the enabling environment would be deepened to enable the company thrive.

Mr. K.T Hammond said Gha­na was open to welcoming all investors with the right incen­tives in support of govern­ment’s efforts to industrialise the country.