Enough fuel in stock, Oil refinery assures public

Tema (Greater Accra), 10th June 99 --

The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has enough fuel products for the country's supply and any shortage in the Western Region should be considered as temporary.

Mr William Sakyi Parker, Chief Executive of TOR disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) about the fuel shortage in the Western Region.

He said following press reports about the shortage, "we have dispatched a number of tankers by road to the region to solve their problem".

He explained that petroleum products to the region normally go by sea and the vessels do not take more than 10,000 tonnes, due to draught restrictions at the port.

Mr Parker said petroleum products are sent by sea because fuel tankers usually get involved in accidents, adding, "a vessel can carry what a good number of petrol tankers could carry at a time, and this is done fortnightly to avoid demurrage charges".

He assured the motoring public that with "TOR's present 2.5 million metric tonne capacity, we will be able to do away with avoidable fuel shortages throughout the country".

The Bulk Oil and Storage Transport Company Limited (BOST) could not tell how many tankers had been despatched to the Western Region when contacted.

According to the press reports an acute shortage of petroleum products has hit Sekondi-Takoradi, resulting in long queues of vehicles at petrol filling stations in the metropolis.

Officials of BOST in the region attributed the shortage to the June four holiday.

GRi?/