Puma Energy commits to energy supply, security through investment in infrastructure — General Manager
Puma Energy Ghana has reaffirmed its commitments to Ghana’s energy supply and security through its diverse investments and state-of-the-art strategic energy infrastructure; to make energy easily accessible and affordable to Ghanaians.
These investments in energy infrastructure are more important than ever as the economy recovers from COVID-19.
General Manager of Puma Energy Ghana, Zwelithini Mlotshwa, in an interview said “A resilient infrastructure is a major element of sustainable energy systems and in addressing that, Puma Energy Group has constructed storage terminals, which have a significant impact on Ghana’s potential for trade and economic growth and also enables Puma Energy to supply seamlessly to customers through its strategic outlets.”
“While the investment in aviation fuel storage at Kotoka International Airport has significantly increased capacity and supply security at the airport, the investment in fuel storage at the Takoradi Terminal provides the first storage facility for gasoline in Ghana’s Western Region,” he said.
He said “These unique and timely updates and expansions to the existing storage infrastructure terminals and systems have essentially guaranteed a unique integrated supply chain that ensures affordable oil products’ availability and other refined products are efficiently and safely transported from new and geographically diverse hubs across Ghana.”
Since 2000, the final consumption of petroleum products has tripled to 4,630 ktoe in 2021 at an annual growth rate of 5.7 per cent. Gasoline and gasoil constitute an average of 36.4 per cent and 51.6 per cent of the total petroleum products consumed in Ghana over the last 21 years respectively according to the 2022 National Energy Statistics report of the Energy Commission of Ghana.
Data from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) of Ghana as of March 2023 also indicated that a total of 1,303,755 metric tonnes of petroleum products was supplied to the Ghanaian market in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 1,103,799 metric tonnes supplied in the first quarter of 2022.
This increase in the consumption of petroleum products reinforces the importance of efficient infrastructure in meeting the growing demands at a reliable and affordable rate.
The investments Puma Energy has made in energy infrastructure are key to addressing the growing demands for petroleum products, be it Gasoil (Diesel), Gasoil (Petrol), or ATK among others not only for the Ghanaian market but also neighbouring countries including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso as a total of 23,472 metric tonnes of petroleum products was re-exported/transited to these countries in the first quarter of 2022.
Since it entered into the Ghanaian energy sector in 2006, Puma Energy Ghana has invested significantly in energy infrastructure in the country.
These recent infrastructure investments include storage terminals at the Kotoka International Airport Aviation and Tema Ridge depots, Takoradi Terminal and Tema Multi Product Terminal (TMPT) – which in total represents some 174000 cubic metres of storage capacity, contributing to fuel supply security in Ghana. Puma Energy has also invested in the first-ever LPG Bottling Plant in Ghana, in support of the country’s Cylinder Recirculation Model, aimed at combating the dangers associated with the poor handling of LPG.
Touching on energy infrastructure, Mr Mlotshwa said, “Energy infrastructure must become more secure, sustainable, and resilient. Timely investments in energy infrastructure are contingent partly on an enabling market environment, conducive policy cohesion and a defined regulatory framework which helps to maintain a level playing field among industry players and facilitate market integration. Others include incentives and reductions in bureaucracy that will allow for more private-sector.”
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
