National Petroleum Hub to create over 780,000 jobs—CEO

The Ghana Petroleum-Hub project at Beyin in the Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region will create over 780,000 jobs for the youth.

Mr Charles Owusu, Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation (PHDC), said the hub would also boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The PHDC was created in 2020 through the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation Act, 2020 (Act 1053) to drive the agenda in terms of securing licences, permits and other required governmental support.

The project is estimated to cost about US$60 billion and it would be implemented in three phases.

Mr Owusu was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) about plans for Ghana’s petroleum and petrochemicals hub and the advantages for incoming investors.

To foster local content development, he said, the corporation would implement training programmes for artisans and graduates to create opportunities for Ghanaians to work in the hub.

He said the qualified local companies would be offered the opportunity to provide goods and services to the hub.

Mr Owusu explained that the Hub would be an area with a network of infrastructure for the processing of crude oil and raw natural gas into refined petroleum and petrochemical products for trading, storage, transportation and distribution to third parties and for export.

This, he added, would be located on a 20,000-acre of land in the Jomoro Municipality in the Western Region of Ghana as a free zone.

Mr Owusu indicated that Petroleum Hub vision originated from the President’s Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda, which aimed at making the country self-sufficient.

“It was about creating jobs for Ghanaians and adding value to the rich natural resources, which is in line with the country’s industrialisation agenda,” he said.

“Without energy, the industrialisation agenda is not possible. I am confident that under the able leadership of the Minister of Energy, the vision will be realized,” he added.

He said the Hub was aiming to develop four ancillary parts, including repairs and maintenance, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, nautical services, inspection, calibration and testing.

These testing facilities, he said, would help ensure that both raw materials received and finished products were ready for export, meet all the required quality standards and procedures and conform to best international industry practices.

The Hub, Mr Owusu said, would have its own 500-MW gas-fired combined-cycle power plan as well as a residential and commercial area with water and waste treatment.

“Our long-term vision involves constructing our own dry dock and having the capacity to build
FPSOs in-country,” he said.