The Corporate Affairs Officer in charge of External Affairs at the Tema Oil Refinery, Godwin Mahama Ayaba, has assured Ghanaians that the country is unlikely to experience fuel shortages despite rising tensions in the Middle East, citing Ghana’s diversified petroleum import sources and growing local refining capacity.
Speaking on The Pulse on March 11, Mr Ayaba backed statements by the National Petroleum Authority that the ongoing US–Israel–Iran conflict will not disrupt fuel availability in the country.
According to him, the NPA recently issued an official statement indicating that the Middle East situation will not lead to shortages of petroleum products in Ghana.
“The National Petroleum Authority, which is the regulator, some three to four hours ago issued an official statement assuring all of us that as for shortage, there is no way the Iran–Israel conflict is going to affect us,” he said.
Mr Ayaba explained that Ghana’s fuel import structure significantly reduces the risk of supply disruption, as most finished petroleum products are imported from Europe.
“Ghana largely imports from two different areas: Europe and the Arabian region. Where we import most is Europe,” he noted.
“We import about 80 per cent of our finished petroleum products from Europe and about 20 per cent from the Arabian region, where this conflict may have an impact.”
While acknowledging that tensions in the Middle East could affect that 20 per cent supply, he said Ghana’s domestic refining capacity is expected to fill the gap.
“So we are likely to lose that 20 per cent, but with TOR coming on stream, we will be able to block that gap,” he said.
Mr Ayaba revealed that the refinery is currently producing about 28,000 barrels per day and expects output to increase significantly after ongoing upgrades.
“Currently we are producing about 28,000 barrels. After the tie-in, we will move to about 45,000 and further increase to 60,000,” he explained.
He added that increased output from other refineries in the country will also contribute to stabilising supply.
“Sentuo is doing around 36,000 to 40,000 barrels a day, Akwaaba is producing somewhere less than 10,000, and Platon is a little below 3,000,” he stated.
“Together, all these companies will be able to cover that 20 per cent that would have come from the Arabian region.”
Mr Ayaba emphasised that Ghana will continue to import the bulk of its petroleum products from Europe, further ensuring supply stability.
“We will still have the 80 per cent from Europe coming in,” he said.
He therefore urged the public not to panic, echoing the assurances provided by the NPA.
“I will add my voice to the official communiqué from the NPA that we should rest assured that we are not going to record fuel shortages,” he stated.
