Construction work on a 13.5 million-litre capacity Marine Gas Oil (MGO) storage facility by the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) at the Takoradi Port in the Western Region has been completed.
The $15 million project was born out of the realisation that with the oil find in the region, vessels and ship activities would increase in the Takoradi oil enclave.
Usually, many ships and vessels rely on ship to ship on the high seas for the supply of MGO before berthing at the shores of the country.
Project
In 2015, Murray and Roberts, engineers and contractors from South Africa, started the project that consisted of three tanks fitted with motorised valves and automated control systems for dispatching of MGO products to upstream vessels, ships and FPSOs that would be docking there.
The facility, financed by GOIL through its internally generated funds (IGF), with support from Ecobank, First Atlantic Bank and GCB Bank, also has three pumps to provide products at a flow rate of 250 cubic meter an hour. It also has the ability to receive products from two Viking bays and also dispatch products to vessels from two bays.
Additionally, an extra line has been provided at the Tullow Bay in case the two bays are occupied, giving an assurance to customers of the availability of products when they come to shore.
Equipment
Furthermore, the system has been equipped with mass flow meters of higher standards and the tanks are fitted with a level alarm system and automatic shut-off valves to prevent overfill of products.
The facility, with the highest quality international standards, in terms of storage, distribution and safety, also has a control room and an office equipped with a 25-hour CCTV to monitor operations.
The foundations of the project have been designed to measure the seismic movement recorded over a period of time at the harbour.
It also has a modern separator and automatic fire-fighting systems to ensure that every effluent from the tank farm is properly treated.
Commissioning
The Managing Director of GOIL, Mr Patrick Akorli, said with the discovery of oil, services rendered should be to the benefit of the country for which reason Ghanaians ought to be at the forefront in the businesses accrued from the resources of the country.
“The project, no doubt, would help revitalise and energise general economic activities at the harbour and bring back to life, the once vibrant twin city of Sekondi-Takoradi,” he noted.
Bunkering facility
The Chairman of the board of directors of GOIL, Prof. William Asomaning, disclosed that the company had already completed a 4,000 million litre MGO bunkering facility fitted with a filtration and coalescing unit at the Sekondi Naval Base which had begun serving products of some of the vessels that berth at the base.
“These investments by the company are significant because we believe it will position GOIL to benefit from the huge trade in MGO, 60 per cent of which is being done offshore at the moment,” the chairman stated.
Significance
In a speech read by a Deputy Energy Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, on behalf of the Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko, he said the project was in line with the government’s policy of making petroleum products available at affordable prices to fuel the socio-economic development of the country and provide the needed jobs for the teeming youth.
The Western Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, said the region was the fulcrum around which the nation revolved owing to its numerous natural resources, adding, “If you invest in our region it means that you are investing in Ghana.”
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