Accra, June 20, GNA - Mr. Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Minister of Energy, has said that the discovery of oil in Ghana should not be perceived as a curse but a national asset that would put Ghana on the world market. He said though communities where minerals are extracted are the most advantaged, the benefit was for the whole country. The Minister said this when he paid a working visit to some sector agencies under the Ministry, including Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO). The visit was to meet management and staff to deliberate on issues of concern and the way forward in improving activities of the sector.

Mr. Owusu-Adjapong said, with a large land mass of the country believed to have deposits of hydro-carbon, it was possible that "we will be heading from the western frontier to the coastal, Eastern and the Volta regions. "I therefore want to draw your attention to the need to go through these difficult times to reach that goal for the development of our country." Moses Oduru Boateng, Managing Director of GNPC, said it was important for all Ghanaians to acknowledge the urgency of the sector's position in the oil business which was worth protecting. "Many people are passionate about this oil business, but remember it is not for a particular group of people but for every Ghanaian."

The Senior Staff Association of GNPC said over the past seven years it had worked hard to improve on their services through the development of new scientific and policy capacities. However, the association said, despite these achievements there were also signs of a stagnating and fragmented global regime for personal and sustainable development. "The increase in world oil and food prices calls for further strengthening of our pockets," they said. The Association said the immediate challenges which had particular relevance to the oil find included addressing the huge resource gap between GNPC and its partners in the oil industry that had led to discrepancies in remuneration. "We have every reason to be optimistic about Ghana, the Ghanaian Diaspora and our partnership because Ghana too has arrived on the world stage." At TOR, the Minister and his team inspected the production and the technical units, among others.

Mr Kofi Kodua, Managing Director of TOR, announced that it was currently embarking on a project to increase productivity. He said the project included three storage tanks to reduce the constraints of crude oil storage, cooling water tower, sea water pumping station and fibre glass pipeline from the harbour to the refinery. Mr Kodua said TOR was currently generating its own electricity and by the end of the year the company would be self-sufficient and would not have to rely on power from the national grid. Mr Joseph Wiafe, Chief Executive Officer of Gridco, also told the minister about some strategic capital projects the company was embarking on. They include Kumasi-Obuasi Transmission Reinforcement Project funded by the Government of Ghana, Kintampo Substation, Buipe Substation and Substations Reliability Enhancement Project.