By: Franice Tandoh
The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has revealed plans to set up a consultative committee to conduct a thorough review of Ghana’s petroleum sector.
During a meeting with the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors on February 4, 2025, the Minister stated that the committee will tackle key issues in the industry, ensuring that policy decisions take all stakeholders into account.
John Jinapor pointed out that one of the key issues on the agenda is the impact of foreign exchange (forex) on industry operations, which has been a major concern.
“The key issue is to ensure that we have enhanced product security, and quality, safely, in a sustainable manner…we want to review the entire downstream petroleum sector and bring it to scratch so that it can be in conformity to modern trends. We will undertake a major review.
John Jinapor also announced that his Ministry, in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, is currently reviewing the Gold for Oil policy.
“We are also reviewing the Gold for oil program as was promised in our manifesto and already the Minister of Finance is working on the gold aspect. He intends to set up what he describes as a Gold board. On our side too, we are reviewing it. If you see some work, it’s just an interim arrangement. You can’t truncate the process until you have a workable solution.
“The President himself is setting up another committee to help the whole sector so that we can have enhanced transparency and work. So the issue of forex will be dealt with. The issue of the Gold for oil will be worked and all the other agencies, we intend to take a holistic view of all the agencies,” he added.
The stakeholder meeting allowed the Energy and Green Transition Minister. John Jinapor to interact with key industry players, including the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies, and the Tanker Owners Union, among others.
