NPA Boss: Ghana’s Petroleum Downstream Industry Witnesses 41% Growth

Ghana’s demand for petroleum products has increased significantly from an average of 7% to 41% in 2021, the chief executive officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has said.

The unprecedented surge in consumption is as a result of various technological based schemes and interventions being implemented by the downstream regulator to curb illicit fuel activities over the past few months.

Speaking at the official opening of the 5th edition of the Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCon), in Accra on Wednesday, 28 September 2022, Dr Abdul-Hamid said the sector currently has annual sales value of GHC32.94 billion representing a contribution of 7.2% to Ghana’s Domestic Gross Product (GDP).

“Africa’s petroleum downstream sector is entering a new era. As the world looks to accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels, the pressures on our industries are mounting,” he said.

“We are all exposed to the global energy transition, as our countries depend on oil and gas revenues. Ghana’s petroleum downstream industry which has an annual sales value of about GHS32.94 billion according to 2021 estimates contributes 7.2% of the country’s GDP.”

“This represents a 41% increase in demand for fossil fuels as compared to 2020. This is an unprecedented surge in consumption of fossil fuels when the annual average over the years had been between 5% and 7%,” The NPA CEO added.

He emphasised that Ghana is committed to reducing the emissions from consumption of energy products.

“We at the National Petroleum Authority are committed to reducing the emissions from the energy products we consume in Ghana, and this culminated to the reduction of sulphur content in transport and industrial fuels from a maximum of 5000ppm to a maximum of 50ppm.”

“As previously mentioned, Ghana is one of the few African countries that consumes low Sulphur fuels, with a roadmap for local refineries to comply,” he said.

Dr Mustapha Hamid further charged participants at this year’s conference to deliberate on the key issues with a focus to devise strategies for deployment.