The Minister for Energy, Hon. Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko has said that Ghana is still a destination of choice for bunkering activities and is widely considered around the world to be one of the best countries in which to conduct bunkering activities in West Africa.

The Honourable Energy Minister said this when he officially opened the conference for the Maritime Week Africa 2018 organized by Petrospot at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra on Wednesday, July 11, 2018.

“The hosting of this conference in Ghana is not by accident. Ghana is still a destination of choice for bunkering activities and is widely considered around the world to be one of the best countries in which to conduct bunkering activities in West Africa. This has been bolstered by the construction of GOIL’s 13.5 million litre Marine Gas Oil Storage facility at the Takoradi Port and its 4 million litre storage facility at the Sekondi Naval base to ensure regular and reliable supply of products”, the Energy Minister explained.

Hon. Agyarko further told the participants that the production of oil and gas in Ghana has boosted Ghana’s trading position. The port expansion projects at Takoradi and Tema will further ensure that the needs of bigger vessels operating in the oil and maritime business are better served.

“It is important to state that the recent ruling of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in favour of Ghana, in respect of its maritime boundary dispute with La Cote d’Ivoire, means that our exploration partners, can now push forward with their projects which had to be put on hold for a number of years. The entry of Exxon Mobil and Aker Energy in Ghana is the latest indication of our commitment to attract credible investors to our oil and shipping industries following others such as Tullow Oil, Kosmos Energy and ENI, who have already laid a strong foundation”, he added.

The Maritime Week Africa is the only international bunkering event focused entirely on Africa. This year’s programme focuses on what Africa is doing to prepare for the 2020 global 0.50% Sulphur cap. The conference also is intended to examine the options for African refiners and suppliers and look to bunker quality issues.

Speakers, who delivered quality presentation to participants included Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), British High Commission, National Petroleum Authority (NPA) among others.

The Managing Director of Petrospot Limited, Llewellyn Bunkes-Hughes expressed delight and thanked the Minister for Energy for attending and explained that the session was to look at developments in Ghana’s oil and gas sector and ways in which this is driving trading activities between Ghana, its neighbours and the wider world. The conference started on Monday, 9th July and it’s expected to end on Thursday, 12th July, 2018.