Ghana plans to import petrol from Dangote Refinery
West African neighbour, Ghana could buy petroleum products from Nigeria’s Dangote Oil Refinery once the facility operates at full speed.
The country’s head of oil regulator Mustapha Abdul-Hamid revealed the development on Monday, October 28, 2024, stating that the move would help cut down more expensive exports from Europe.
Abdul-Hamid, Chairman of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Ghana, stressed that the planned importation from Dangote could end $400m monthly imports from Europe.
Per Reuters, he disclosed this while speaking at the OTL Africa Downstream oil conference in Lagos.
“If the refinery reaches 650,000 bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,” Abdul-Hamid said.
NPA boss highlights benefits of patronising Dangote
According to the NPA Chairman, importing from Dangote Refinery rather than Europe would lead to a drastic reduction in the prices of goods and services by removing freight costs.
He added that African countries will eventually agree on a common currency that should dampen demand for dollars.
Ghana’s economy, which recorded a 6.9% year-on-year growth in the second quarter of 2024, has been driven largely by a strong expansion of the extractive sector which has boosted demand for fuel.
The $20 billion Dangote Refinery, owned by Nigerian billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote is expected to operate at near full capacity by the end of the year while analysts noted that it could hit full capacity in the first quarter of 2025.
