Deputy Minister for Energy in-charge of Petroleum in the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, says the Ministry is working with the country’s National Security Secretariat to implement an Energy Security Policy, aimed at protecting critical infrastructure and the sustainability of the petroleum industry.
He said, “As we make efforts at digitization, so do we become vulnerable to cybercrime and other threats to petroleum infrastructure.
“Government expects that industry players especially the private sector and consumers, will cooperate with us as we roll out various measures to implement this very important policy,” Dr Amin said.
It would be recalled that some suspected arsonist hacked down Ghana Grid Company’s (GRIDCo) transmission tower in Tema early this year.
Few weeks after that incident, a gas pipeline belonging to private firm, Cirrus Oil Services in Tema power enclave, was also torched.
These incidents clearly showed that the country’s petroleum infrastructure and other critical installations are exposed to threats, hence the need for Energy Security Policy to address the threats.
Addressing industry players at the Ghana International Petroleum Conference in Accra, organised by the National Petroleum Authority, in partnership with Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors and Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Dr Amin Adam noted that the petroleum industry is now exposed to significant risks and danger of disruption, particularly the physical infrastructure on which the industry is built.
“The industry is associated with inefficiencies, leading to various forms of rent seeking, higher cost of operations and, consequently, poor service delivery.
“We must, therefore, take advantage of the global revolution to restructure operations of the industry, reduce cost and ensure competitive pricing of petroleum,” he stressed.
Touching on the distribution of premix fuel, Dr Amin said “we are, currently, exploring new digital pathways for addressing issues of diversion of heavily subsidized premix fuel.”
He, therefore, charged the National Petroleum Authority to develop and implement a digitization plan in the petroleum value chain across the country.