President John Dramani Mahama will on Thursday, June 25, perform the sod-cutting for Phase 2 of the Sentuo Oil Refinery Project in Tema.

A source at the Presidency told the Ghana News Agency that the ceremony would bring together senior government officials, stakeholders in the energy sector and captains of industries.

The Sentuo Oil Refinery represents a transformative milestone in Ghana’s journey toward energy independence and industrial self-sufficiency.

Located in the Tema Industrial Area, this privately-owned facility, part of the Chinese conglomerate Sentuo Group, was conceived under China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Ghana’s “One District, One Factory” policy.

Commissioned in early 2024 with an investment of nearly $2 billion, the refinery has become Ghana’s largest active refining facility.

Its significance was cemented on June 8, 2026, when it received its first shipment of one million barrels of locally produced Jubilee crude oil for domestic processing—a historic departure from Ghana’s longstanding practice of exporting raw crude and importing refined products at volatile global prices.

The refinery’s strategic importance extends across economic and energy security dimensions.

Currently processing 40,000 barrels per stream day, it produces essential products including diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and asphalt, which directly support transportation, household energy, and infrastructure development across Ghana.

The facility has already created over 1,000 direct jobs, with 95 per cent of its workforce being Ghanaian, and government officials emphasize that domestic refining will retain foreign exchange, build technical capacity, and stimulate ancillary industries such as petrochemicals and fertilizer production.