President John Mahama has said he intends making Ghana a hub in the sub-region for petroleum distribution.

“Mr Speaker, on the downstream level, our vision is to create Ghana as a hub for petroleum distribution in the sub-region,” he said.

“Already BOST (Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation) has begun supplying petroleum products to the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali from their Bolgatanga depot,” Mr Mahama told Parliament on Thursday February 25, 2016, when he delivered the last of his State of the Nation addresses for his first term.

Mr Mahama also said local firms and personnel had benefitted from the local content law passed by Parliament in connection with the oil and gas sector.

The president said: “Mr Speaker, in the energy sector, government in 2013 formulated the local content and local participation policy. Mr Speaker, approximately 7,000 people have been employed in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry: 5,590 Ghanaians and 1,350 expatriates.

“Out of the 474 companies registered with the Petroleum Commission, 321 are indigenous companies and 46 are joint ventures. Out of the total value of 6.3 billion contracts awarded, from 2010 to 2015, over $1 billion have gone to indigenous companies. Mr Speaker, specifically, as of the third quarter of 2015, $201,072,000, representing 41 per cent of a total of $792, 623,000 worth of investments for the year was awarded to indigenous companies.”