Trade Minister Tours $1.98Billon Sentuo Oil Refinery

The Minister of Trade and Industry, KT Hammond has paid a working visit to the $1.98Billon Sentuo Oil Refinery Ltd. (SORL) project liking it as a good investment with a prospect helping to solve Ghana’s refinery problems.

The project which is in accordance with government’s “One District One Factory” (1D1F) development policy, on completion will produce/refine 5 million tons of all types of Crude Assays Per Annum, With an Output Of 3.2 million tons of Refined Petroleum Products such as; Gasoline, Kerosene and Diesel of high quality above the Euro IV Standard.

In addition, the refinery will produce 350,000 tons of a series of Pitch Products, 200,000 tons of lubricating Base Oil and Solvent Naphtha and 400,000 tons of By-Products such as Polypropylene, Liquefied Gas, Ammonium Sulphate, Sulfuric Acid and Sulphur when the two Phases of the Project is fully completed and commissioned.

Mr KT Hammond was full of praise to the investors describing the project as a classical example of the President’s industrialization/developmental agenda at the backdrop of the 1D1F.

“I am overwhelmed by this huge structure. I have been seeing images of the plant, and today I decided to pay a visit to see progress of work and in fact, I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far”, he said.

The Minister lamented over the huge amount of money that goes into the importation of refined oil and gas products annually in the country and expressed optimism this project has come at the opportune time to address this challenge.

Chairman of the Sentuo Group, XU NING QUAN said his outfit’s love for Ghana informed the decision to invest in vital sectors of the economy for accelerated development and boost Ghana’s energy sector taking into consideration refining quality oil and Gas products at affordable prices as well.

The Group Chairman was upbeat the project will impact positively in terms of revenue generation in terms of payment of taxes, levies among other and create massive employment, ensure foreign exchange savings whiles guaranteeing value to customers with regards to lower pricing, superior quality products and local availability of crude oil,

Sentuo Oil he said will also institutionalize community relations and CSR activities with focus areas including Health, Education, Sanitation and Social/Humanitarian services.

He appealed to Government to check anti-dumping, subsidy & countervailing and Safeguard measures to prevent unfair trade practices and support to create effective fair-trade measures for the domestic petroleum refining industry as required by the GITC Act 926 of 2016.

Mr XU NING QUAN also called for government’s immediate attention to address challenges associated with acquiring Test Run permits from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Natural Gas Connectivity and Supply, Access to Foreign Exchange, Crude oil supply support (local & foreign), tax waiver on materials, equipment & machinery (Phase II) and motorable access roads to ensure smooth operation of the project.

Sentuo Oil Refinery

The Sentuo Oil Refinery was conceived from the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Development Strategy for the oil and gas industry in China & Africa.

Following extensive research and consultations, the Sentuo Group settled on Shanghai HoTo Engineering’s oil refinery technology.

The “Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited (SORL)” phase 1 is on the verge of completion pending all regulatory issues. The Phase 2 is expected to be completed in January 2024 and will operate at a capacity of 5 million tons per year (tpy). The Refinery is located at the Tema Industrial Zone in Ghana in West Africa.

The Sentuo Oil Refinery essentially factors in key features such as modern scientific technology and innovation, energy conservation and environmental protection, recycling economics, phase & rolling development and the scalability of production capacity and quality; which are all key requirements of any new production and/or manufacturing project.