Oil Marketing Companies to set up refineries

The Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs), is to set up oil refineries in the country to make up for the short fall in the capacity of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).

TOR currently produces about 45,000 barrels of oil representing 75 per cent of the country's daily consumption capacity of 76,500 barrels, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, Industry Coordinator of AOMCs, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Sunday.

He said TOR also needed to increase its refinery capacity from the level of 45,000 barrels per day to about 145,000 to meet the demands of the country. Mr Agyemang-Duah said the country aimed to produce about 300,000 barrels of oil daily by 2010 from the country's oil field due to the discovery.

He said this had created an enabling environment for growth in the oil industry, with an urgent need for a new refinery to ensure that Ghana added value to the about 300,000 barrels of oil to be produced daily.

He said raw or unprocessed crude oil was generally not useful and that, "We stand at the threshold of exporting finished products to countries within the West African sub-region and building of new refineries will give the AOMCs members opportunity to export oil products". Mr Agyemang-Duah stressed the need for banks and AOMCs to collaborate and invest in oil infrastructure, technology and logistics including bulk haulage of oil products, security and safety equipments, filling station establishment and granting and maintenance of bank guarantees.

He said such collaboration would ensure that Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) continued to market, supply and distribute oil products in a cost effective and high quality manner capable of quickly responding to changing needs and opportunities. Mr Agyemang-Duah said the AOMCs would soon launch a dialogue for stakeholders involving operators in the banking sector and oil marketing companies to provide a platform for frank discussion to ensure growth. He commended the oil marketing companies in the country for adhering to environmental standards during their operations and providing social services.

He said OMCs had played significant roles in environmental protection, support needy institutions, sponsored programmes and participated in cultural activities. Investigations by the GNA established that Total Petroleum Ghana Limited, Ghana Oil Company Limited, Shell Ghana Limited, Agapet Oil Company Limited, Allied Oil Company Limited, Dukes Petroleum Company Limited, Galaxy Oil, Merchant Oil, Star Oil, Universal Oil, and Virgin Petroleum Ghana are members of OMCs. Others are: Unity Oil, Sky Petroleum Limited, Havilah Oil, AP Oil and Gas Company, Anasset Gas Company, Capstone Oil Company, Champion Oil, Top Oil, Strategic Energies, Superior Oil, So Energy Ghana, Sonnidom Energy Limited, and Obiba J. K. Company. The rest are: Oando Ghana, Nasona Oil Ghana, Manbah Gas Company, Kaysens Gas Company, Glory Oil Company, Frimps Oil Company, Fraga Oil Company, Excel Oil Company, and Engen Ghana Limited.

Source: GNA