Overview of Oil and Gas Infrastructure in Ghana

=Overview=

Concerns have been raised over bottlenecks in Ghana's oil and gas infrastructure preventing the country from reaching its full hydrocarbon potential.

In 2011 policy think tank the Danquah Institute asserted that the government's delay in developing much needed gas infrastructure was costing Ghana over $1 billion, as the country was unable to fully utilise the associated gas produced at the Jubilee Field. Reports claim that Ghana continued to flare unused associated gas four months after the start of commercial oil production at the Jubilee Field.

Pipelines
According to comments made by the World Bank Country Director in Ghana, Ishac Diwan, in 2011, the development of infrastructure for the utilization of associated gas from Ghana's Jubilee Field was being hampered by the lack of a gas pipeline development plan. As of 2011 the Natural Gas Transportation and Processing Project (NGTPP) was in development, to construct an offshore pipeline to export commercial quantities of gas from the Jubilee Field.

Terminals
The Development Director of Lonrho Plc, who in 2011 were planning to invest $1 billion in the construction of a series of ports in Western Ghana, asserted that Ghana's oil and gas industry was in dire need of supporting infrastructure, adding that there were "a number of potential tenants and users" showing interest in "Ghana as a regional hub for their oil and gas operations". These new ports are designed to aid in the service of the company's oil rigs.

Refineries
As of 2011 Ghana had only one refinery, the Tema Oil Refinery. However in 2011 the press reported that a South African company was to build a second crude oil refinery in Ghana. The New Alpha Refinery would include import and export facilities, a tank farm and a gas turbine and, with a refining capacity of 200,000 barrels of oil a day (bpd) would quadruple the capacity at the existing Tema refinery. According to Ghana Oil Online, the augmented capacity is crucial for Ghana to cope with its rising energy consumption, as well as allowing the country to export refined products to neighbouring countries.

=Chinese Investment in Infrastructure=

In line with the growing trend over recent years of increased Chinese investment in African countries, in 2010 the China Development Bank approved a loan of $13 billion for Ghana. $10 billion of the loan was to be directed towards building roads, railways, schools and hospitals in the country, with the remaining $3 billion invested in oil and gas infrastructure. =References=