Energy Minister woos oil and gas investors at Houston conference
The Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has told international investors in the oil and gas sector to invest in Ghana to reap the maximum rewards.
This was his focus at the launch of Ghana’s delegation pavilion at the ongoing 2021 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston in the United States of America.
The pavilion exhibits the opportunities in the country’s petroleum sector, creates awareness, and encourages investors to commit their resources to investments in Ghana.
“Today, we cut the ribbon to present and showcase Ghana’s pavilion at the OTC, to demonstrate to the world that truly, our petroleum industry is awash with exciting investment opportunities.
We are here not only to tell the world about our flourishing upstream industry but also to create awareness about opportunities in our downstream industry,” Dr Prempeh said.
Making a case to investors, the minister said Ghana has a congenial business atmosphere, great hospitality and relative political stability that would make every investor consider the country as an investment destination.
He cited abundant untapped hydrocarbon resources, both offshore and onshore, for them to explore and exploit through partnerships with the Ghanaian government.
He further referred to farm-in opportunities in some existing licences for prospective investors to operate through existing Petroleum Agreements without going through block application and negotiation processes.
In the downstream sector, the minister disclosed that Ghana aspires to become a hub for refined petroleum products in the West African sub-region and beyond by the year 2030.
The hub involves developing infrastructure such as refineries, port terminal facilities, storage facilities, petrochemical plants, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals with a network of pipelines.
“It is within our plans to develop a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) facilities to serve as an alternative source of fuel for transportation,” he indicated.
CNG is a cheaper and cleaner fuel than other fossil sources, and its use is in line with broader goals to transition progressively from carbon-intensive sources to low carbon sources of energy.
The 2021 edition of the annual conference started on August 17 and is expected to end on August 19.
The conference would provide energy professionals with the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas to advance scientific and technical knowledge for offshore resources.
The energy minister attended the conference together with one of his deputies Egyapa Mercer, Ghana’s Ambassador to the US and other senior officials from the ministry.
Some Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of some sector agencies and leading executives from operators in Ghana’s oil and gas industry were in attendance.
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