The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) yesterday released slightly over two million litres of diesel for supply to motorists in Accra and its environ to help arrest the current shortage of fuel in the country.
The incidence of growing queues at filling stations in the metropolis for supplies of diesel fuel is, therefore, expected to vanish with effect from today.
Dr. Kwabena Donkor, General Manager of the BOST, who spoke to the Graphic on the fuel situation in the country yesterday, added that adequate supplies have also been despatched to the regions especially to Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and the three northern regions of the country.
The BOST Manager asserted that the fuel situation is under control and that there is no cause for any panic buying or hysterical measure by motorists.
Dr. Donkor also disclosed to the Graphic that his outfit, in close collaboration with the security agencies, had smashed a fuel smuggling syndicate which bought large quantites of the relatively cheaper products here and smuggled them to neighbouring and the Sahelian contries for sale at higher prices.
He said yesterday, five articulated trucks supposed to be carrying cargo ostensibly bound for Algeria via Niger, were, upon a search conducted on them, found to have concealed about 4,520 litres of diesel fuel in drums amongst their cargo.
"This quantity excluded what was in their fully loaded tanks and reserved tanks and " the BOST boss stressed. He said the clandestine act was discovered at Bui in the Northern Region where the alleged perpetrators of the act had stopped and were buying more diesel fuel to augment their supplies.
Initial investigations, according to the BOST boss, revealed that the diesel was bought from a TOTAL filling Station at Tema contrary to the government directive that fuel should not be served in drums and other containers.
Dr. Donkor stated that even though acts of smuggling like these do not fully explain the shortage of the product on the market, they nevertheless serve as contributory factors to the scarcity of the product.
Owing to the high price differential of fuel between our country and its neighbour , acts of smuggling of the product to these areas have been on the increase and with it, needless scarcity has been created which has imposed difficulties in the free movement of persons goods and services.
Dr. Donkor called on Ghanaians, especially those in boarder regions, to exercise more vigilance to track down the perpetrators of these clandestine acts and bring them to book as they siphon cheap and subsidised fuel to other countries for private gain at the expense of national development.
Mr. Simon Abinyga, Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy, in a telephone interview, confirmed Dr. Donkor's assertion an said the present shortage is a temporary one and that full-scale loading of trucks has begun at TOR.
Mr. Abinyga said government is fully aware that 13million litres of gas oil is needed in a week and assured Ghanaians that there are enough storage tanks to regularise the situation.
He said due to the misinformation and wild speculations on the petroleum supply situation, he will issue a policy statement today and also debunked the issue that the country's buffer stock of petroleum products has been depleted and stated that it isnot true that Ghana has to pay spot cash for oil deliveries. He said government has an obligation to supply 450,000 barrels of oil to meeting the nation's monthly requirement, which it would continue to fulfils.
