By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, Dr. Yussif Sulemana says Ghana has improved its petroleum storage capacity by about 20–30 percent (%) since 2025 through the rehabilitation of existing tanks and fuel depots.
He explained that the current improvements have come mainly from repairs and the reactivation of previously non-functional storage infrastructure at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and depots operated by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST).
Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Citi Fm on Monday, March 9, 2026, the Technical Advisor at the Energy Ministry reiterated that the improvements come at a time when global energy markets remain volatile due to geopolitical tensions between US-Israel and Iran, prompting governments to strengthen fuel storage capacity and supply resilience.
Dr. Sulemana further explained that although no new storage tanks have been built at TOR, ongoing rehabilitation works have helped bring several idle tanks back into operation.
“If you look at TOR, the total storage capacity is around one million metre cube. That is about 600,000 barrels of oil storage. There hasn’t been any increase in a new tank for storage. But there have been repairs ongoing that have brought a lot of the tanks back on stream. So, I can say that there has been about 20% improvement,” he retorted.
According to him, if all the storage tanks at TOR become fully operational, the refinery’s storage capacity could rise significantly.
“If all the tanks in TOR can work, we will then be talking about 800,000 to 900,000 barrels of storage,” Dr. Sulemana noted.
However, he acknowledged that not all the tanks are currently functional, revealing that about 20–30% of the tanks remain unavailable, although efforts are underway to restore them.
“The last time I checked, 20–30% of these tanks were not available. But there are concerted efforts to get some of these tanks back online,” the Technical Advisor at the energy ministry reiterated.
Dr. Sulemana also highlighted ongoing efforts to revive petroleum depots across the country, many of which had previously been in poor operational condition.
“There has also been a deliberate effort to revamp all the depots. Most of the depots were not in active working conditions. But with the energy minister, we have been able to revamp most of them,” he said.
Dr. Sulemana hinted that while the immediate strategy focuses on rehabilitating existing infrastructure, Ghana will eventually need to invest in new storage facilities to strengthen long-term fuel security.
“In the long term, we will need new structures to come in. But in the meantime, I can say that about 20–30% of improved storage capacity has been added to what we have now,” he added.
