A new oil refinery with capacity to produce 200 bpd of refined oil will commence operations in February 2007. The facility, which is being set up at Saltpond, in the central region of Ghana, by the Ildago International Group will open up jobs for about 7,000 Ghanaians and 1,500 expatriates. A team of experts is to inspect the site prior to commencement of the refinery’s operations.

 

According to Prof. Kwame Eshun-Wilson, the refinery is being built at Saltpond because it is the “oil field of Ghana.” Seventy percent of the oil refined is to be exported, and the remaining 30% to be sold locally.

 

An MoU was signed between Ildago and the Ministry of Energy on June 5, 2006. Eshun-Wilson said the company has completed an environmental impact assessment study on the project, adding that its aim was to break the monopoly of the Tema Oil Refinery. He also explained that the refinery will be ready to accept oil from around the globe for refining into petrol, kerosene, and gasoline.

 

Accommodation is to be provided for the workers at the facility, while a secondary school will be built in the community as part of the company’s social responsibility.

 

Eshun-Wilson said another MoU was expected to be signed for a second refinery, probably parallel in construction to that at Saltpond, in Winneba or Cape Coast.