Saturday, 13th September, 2025
Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah
Ho West
Mr Speaker I am grateful for the opportunity to make this important Statement regarding the need for us to financially support the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation, (PHDC), the organisation spreading the Petroleum Hub project under the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition.
I must say that this is a matter of national strategic importance. One, if it is handled with the agency it deserves, it has the potential to transform Ghana’s energy sector, unlock billions in investment, and reposition our country as a regional industrial and commercial force in West Africa.
Mr Speaker, the Petroleum Hub Project is one of the most ambitious industrialisation initiatives in the history of Ghana. Located in Jomoro Municipality in the Western Region, the hub will serve as an integrated zone for refinery, storage, distribution, trading, and petroleum chemical production. It is projected to attract over US$60 billion in investment over time, while creating over 780,000 direct and indirect jobs, boosting export revenue, and enhancing Ghana’s energy security and value chain development.
Mr Speaker, this is not merely an energy sector initiative; it is a national development project that will encourage Ghana’s transformation into a petroleum and petro-chemical powerhouse on the African continent. Yet, this transformation agenda is under threat, not from a lack of vision or strategy, but from lack of funding for the payment of compensation and servicing of the enclave. Mr Speaker, the Lands Commission has approved a total interim compensation for the land to be acquired, including professional and statutory administrative fees, in the sum of GH₵1,191,477,040 for the Petroleum Hub Project. The Petroleum Hub Corporation, which is the head agency charged with planning, coordinating, and implementing this project, lacks a sustainable and reliable source of operational funding to execute its mandate.
Mr Speaker, to address this critical gap, the Select Committee on Energy proposed that GH₵0.10p per litre from the margins within the Unified Petroleum Price Fund, (UPPF), currently administered by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), be allocated directly to PHDC. This funding will serve three vital purposes: sustain the operation of PHDC, enabling it to deliver on its core mandate without interruption, support the payment of land compensation to project affected persons and communities in line with legal and ethical obligations, invest in the training and capacity building of Ghanaians to ensure that when investors arrive in the country, Ghana has a ready, skilful workforce to meet the demand across the petroleum value chain.
Mr Speaker, we believe this allocation is both feasible and justified, given that UPPF already pulls resources from the petroleum price margin to support downstream operations and infrastructure. As part of the acquisition process, it is imperative that the affected farmers and inhabitants whose livelihoods As part of the acquisition process, it is imperative that the affected farmers and inhabitants whose livelihoods are going to be affected by the intended acquisition are initially paid compensation for their crops and structures while actual claims of ownership of the affected lands are validated by the Lands Commission for payment of compensation for the lands after the publication of the Executive Instrument to compulsorily acquire the land. This is meant to bring temporal relief to those farmers and inhabitants. The budget for these activities is just GH₵300 million.
Mr Speaker, in order to alleviate the suffering of the affected farmers and their communities, we are requesting of this august House to support with a budgetary allocation of GH₵300 million in the Mid-Year Budget Statement dedicated solely to the payment of crop compensation and resettlement of persons whose properties are being affected by the development of the Hub. This is not only a matter of compliance with Article 20 of the 1992 Constitution but also a matter of national honour. It is imperative that we treat affected citizens with dignity and fairness while maintaining momentum on this strategic national investment.
Mr Speaker, this is where I respectfully call upon your distinguished leadership in accordance with your mandate to safeguard the national interest and promote the development agenda of this republic. I respectfully request that you issue an administrative fiat directing that the Hon Minister of Energy and Green Transition, and the Hon Minister for Finance act with urgency on the following: One, approve an implementation of allocation of 10 pesewas from the UPPF funds margins to PHDC effective immediately; Ensure that a budgetary provision of GH₵300 million is made in the Mid-Year Budget review or upcoming Appropriation Act for the payment of land compensation related to the Petroleum Hub project.
Mr Speaker, the Petroleum Hub project is not just another infrastructure project, it is a national imperative, a generational legacy and critical engine for economic transformation. It will place Ghana at the center of West Africa’s energy future, deepen our industrial base and create hundreds of thousands of jobs for our people.
Let us not allow this vision to be stalled by preventable funding constraints. Let us act boldly and urgently to prevent the corporation with the means to deliver on this national dream.
I thank you Mr Speaker for giving me the opportunity.
Hon Albert Tetteh Nyakotey
Yilo Krobo
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement on the need to support the PHDC by Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, Member of Parliament for Ho West.
Mr Speaker, a total of about 780,000 jobs will be created by the development phase of the Petroleum Hub, and it also has significant positive outlook on the economy. It is expected that the export tax of about US$1.5 billion will be realised by 2030, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase by about 70 per cent by the same period. The downstream petroleum sector is also expected to benefit a lot from the Petroleum Hub. We have several vessels of bitumen for road construction and base oils for production of lubricants imported into the country every year. With the construction of the Petroleum Hub specialty phase, all these products will be sourced locally, saving us a lot of foreign exchange.
Mr Speaker, I respectfully call on your distinguished leadership, as the Chairman of the Committee on Energy has already done, to issue an administrative fiat directing the Hon Minister for Energy and Green Transition and the Hon Minister for Finance to act with urgency to approve the project and to allocate GH₵0.10p from the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) margin to the Petroleum Hub with immediate effective. Thank you,
Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute.
Hon Emmanuel Drah
Upperwest Akim
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to comment on the Statement made by Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, MP for Ho West.
Mr Speaker, the proposal to establish a petroleum hub in the Jomoro District is a very crucial one that needs immediate attention. This project, when executed, will not only benefit the energy sector but Ghana and West Africa as a whole. It will also not enhance the energy sector alone but bring some kind of strength into the petroleum value chain, thus from the upstream to midstream, and then finally landing on the downstream activities and operations.
Mr Speaker, this will also solve the current crisis we have in the energy sector because it would attract a lot of petroleum giants into the country. So, to those of us on your right, it appears to us to be of great importance that this project is giving the needed attention, not merely for the interests of the energy sector but for Ghana and West Africa as a whole.
Having said this, I want to thank you again, Mr Speaker, for your indulgence.
Hon Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor
Awutu Senya East
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I rise today in support of the Statement made by Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, MP for Ho West, on the issue of the Petroleum Hub.
Mr Speaker, Petroleum Hub happens to be one of Ghana’s baby that is suffering a lot. In recent times, we have seen other countries develop their petroleum hubs, especially when we take a clear look at Nigeria. Ghana, as we speak, can be one of the biggest petroleum hubs in West Africa, but nothing is being done about it.
Mr Speaker, as we speak, the Petroleum Hub has acquired a large land at the Jomoro Constituency, which amounts to GH₵300 million. They need help. They need funding to pay for compensations for the farmers and the inhabitants of that locality.
Mr Speaker, I believe that the Petroleum Hub is not a government project, but a project for all Ghanaians. I know that when this is established and instituted, the entire country is going to be liberated from the issues of energy, and this Petroleum Hub is also going to serve other neighbouring countries.
Mr Speaker, one major issue we are having is funding. Funding in a sense that, since the construction of the Petroleum Hub and since the acquisition of the land at Jomoro to construct the energy release facility, the amount of GH₵300 million has still not been paid, and the Petroleum Hub is relying on the ordinary Ghanaian to help them make this a reality.
Mr Speaker, not only the facility that will be built at the Petroleum Hub, there are other projects that are going to go on at the Petroleum Hub, which is going to be in Jomoro, like the construction of schools and hospitals. It is an entire city on its own and everyone needs to get involved.
Mr Speaker, I conclude by saying that we should not leave this project, the petroleum hub alone, or leave it to the people or the good people of Jomoro. Let us all come on board. Let us contribute our 10 pesewas to this very important project and make it a reality.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
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