…as demand set to double again
By Leo Nelson
Faced with a projected doubling of national and regional fuel demand by 2030, Ghana is embarking on a major expansion of its petroleum and LPG storage infrastructure. The state‑owned BOSTenergies, working alongside the troubled Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), aims to pre‑empt supply disruptions that have historically exposed the economy to volatile global price shocks.
Speaking at the Ghana‑UK Investment Summit, BOSTenergies Managing Director Afetsi Awoonor disclosed that domestic and regional fuel consumption has already doubled between 2016 and 2025 the year President John Dramani Mahama returned to office. “If we don’t invest in our infrastructure and get ahead of the demand curve, we stand a chance of being shaken by more supply disruptions,” he said.
The immediate operational target is to raise TOR’s processing rate from 45,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) to 60,000 bpsd. A longer‑term ambition to add a further 100,000 bpsd module would fundamentally reshape Ghana’s regional trade posture.
That posture already extends overland to Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, and by sea from Takoradi to Liberia and Sierra Leone. The planned storage upgrades are designed to lock in these supply corridors and with them, Ghana’s leverage over landlocked Sahelian neighbours.
The infrastructure plan is geographically strategic. A new petroleum storage facility in Takoradi will anchor western exports and domestic distribution. Existing regional depots will be upgraded to create an interconnected reserve network.
For LPG central to the government’s clean cooking agenda 30,000 metric tonnes of new storage capacity will be distributed across three hubs: Takoradi (west), Kumasi (centre) and Buipe (north).
The Buipe installation will serve the northern territories and transshipment to Sahelian partners.
Analysts note that increased storage capacity reduces Ghana’s reliance on just‑in‑time imports, which have left the country vulnerable to international price spikes and logistics failures. Strategic reserves also allow the National Petroleum Authority to stabilise pump prices a politically sensitive tool ahead of any election cycle.
Yet questions remain. TOR, BOSTenergies’ partner, has only just emerged from a decade of losses and a controversial lease scandal. Maintaining expanded infrastructure will require sustained operational discipline and capital. And the projected demand doubling to 2030 assumes continued regional growth an uncertain bet given security volatility in the Sahel.
For now, Mahama’s government is betting that getting ahead of the curve will insulate Ghana from external shocks while earning hard currency from cross‑border energy sales. The real test will be whether the storage tanks are filled as fast as they are built.