ACCRA, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana has declared that his government will strive to ensure that Ghana becomes the petroleum hub in the West Africa sub-region.
The Government would, therefore, pursue its vision to establish a thriving petrochemical industry to guarantee sufficient, reliable and affordable clean energy for power generation and supply to support economic activities, and keep the country on the right path to desired growth, he said.
The President said this when addressing a gathering here Thursday after officiating at the commissioning of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel John Agyekum Kufuor to signal the formal production of oil in commercial quantities from the Sankofa oil and gas fields in the Cape Three Points sector.
The symbolic ceremony was performed offshore by the President turning the production valve of the FPSO and opening a sub-sea well choke. Major stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, public officials and traditional leaders in the Western Region (Province) attended the gathering.
President Akufo-Addo said the attainment of the feat had been made possible by the consistent implementation of sector-related policies and programmes aimed at creating the right business and investment climate to ensure the rapid and continuous development of the sector.
It has been ten years since Ghana made the historic discovery of oil and gas as a result of the bold and farsighted policies of the Kufuor-led government, he recalled. The then President played a truly seminal role in the development of the nation’s oil and gas industry, and it is, thus, befitting to have the OCTP FPSO christened in his honour.
Indeed, the decision to restructure and reorganise the operations of GNPC (Ghana National Petroleum Corporation) to make the corporation focus on its core mandate of exploring for oil and gas, and creating an enabling climate, positively changed the operating environment.
The President said it was the expectation of the government and Ghanaians that the Offshore Cape Three Point (OCTP) project partners would ensure the prudent management of the Sankofa oil and gas project to achieve cost efficiency, as this was the only way low gas prices could be guaranteed, and, eventually, low electricity tariffs to stimulate development.
With the addition of the production from the OCTP to those of the T.E.N. and Jubilee fields, we are optimistic that our nation will enhance significantly its gas supply for our domestic power generation, he said.
He also said the government would collaborate with licensees and contractors to ensure that petroleum resources were exploited in a sustainable manner for the benefit of the people of Ghana.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK