Tehran, Iran | – The President of Ghana John Dramani Mahama said his country is importing oil products and Iran can cooperate in construction of oil refineries in the African country.
Speaking at the Iran-Ghana Economic and Trade Cooperation meeting here on Monday, he said Tehran and Accra can establish high-level relations in industrial, agricultural, mineral, and commercial fields.
“Ghana has been producing 120,000 barrels of oil a day since August 2105 and has plans to increase it to 200,000 b/d in short run and hit the 500,000 b/d record by 2020,” he added.
Mahama said that the Italian energy firm Eni is scheduled to launch maiden gas exploration operation in Ghana in 2017 so that it can generate power from gas.
“Iran and Ghana can also cooperate in construction, bridge, railways, and wagon building industries,” he added.
On Sunday, Ghanaian Minister of Petroleum Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah said his country would need the support of Iran’s oil and gas industry for becoming a power hub in Africa.
Following a meeting with Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh in Tehran, Buah said that Tehran-Accra cooperation in upstream and downstream industries were discussed during the meeting.
‘Given Iran’s vast oil and gas potentialities, Ghana can enjoy the Asian country’s capabilities in the field,’ he said quoted by Shana.
He said Accra is planning to become a power generation hub for the African continent, adding that Iran’s oil and gas industry can be instrumental for this goal.
Zangeneh said Tehran is keen on enhancing tied with Ghana and is ready to export crude oil as well as petroleum products to the African country.
‘Ghana produces a little amount of crude oil, has not tapped much of its reserves and is yet to exploit its resources,’ said the Iranian official.
He said Accra needs little imports of crude oil, adding the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum announced its readiness to ship consignments of crude oil and petroleum products to Ghana during the meeting.
