Restore Fuel Reserves and Refine Oil Locally to Mitigate Global Price Shocks - COPEC tells Government
Accra, Ghana - 16 June, 2025 - Ghana's Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) is sounding the alarm on the country's vulnerability to global oil price shocks, citing the ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran as a prime example.
According to Duncan Amoah, Executive Director of COPEC, Ghana's overreliance on imported refined petroleum products has left its economy exposed to external shocks.
Speaking in an interview on Channel One Newsroom on Saturday, June 14 Amoah emphasized the need for Ghana to take control of its hydrocarbon resources and reduce its dependence on international oil marketing companies. He lamented the current state of affairs, where Ghana's resources are extracted, refined abroad, and then imported back into the country at exorbitant prices.
“There is a lot of geopolitical tension. We cannot continue to be price seekers, we cannot continue to be global observers. We cannot continue to allow international oil marketing companies to come down here, take our hydrocarbon resources and ship everything back to Europe, go refine and process them, and then we will go back with our cargos for the refined product to our country for $400 every month,” he lamented.
Amoah's concerns come on the heels of a directive from President John Dramani Mahama, tasking the Finance and Energy Ministers to monitor the escalating Middle East tensions and assess their potential impact on Ghana's economy. The President's directive underscores the importance of staying ahead of global events that could undermine Ghana's recent economic gains.
COPEC's call for reforms is further underscored by the alarming state of Ghana's strategic fuel reserves. According to Amoah, the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) currently holds no fuel reserves, while the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) remains largely idle. This has left Ghana vulnerable to global price shocks, with the economy feeling the impact of every crisis.
COPEC is urging the Energy Ministry to take immediate action to restore fuel reserves and retool national infrastructure to refine oil locally.
“That strategy has also got to change. I think that the current Energy Minister, John Jinapor, if anybody can fix the situation, should be better placed. We will urge him to re-strategise and get Ghana to be a global observer.
“Anytime the prices go up, our economy is busted completely, and then things have to go back because Iran is fighting Israel. We should not be feeling this impact immediately.''
“We should not be feeling the impact [of global price shocks] this immediately. But as it stands now, our buffers are all down,” he warned.
Source: Lead News Online
