GNPC Blamed For Fuel Shortage

Accra Mr Simon Abingya, deputy minister of Mines and Energy, today blamed the current shortage of fuel on the failure of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to deliver parcels to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) on schedule. "...It was due to the inability of a company which had won the tender for the supply of 30,000 tonnes parcels to TOR to deliver as scheduled,'' Mr Abingya told parliament in a statement, boycotted by a section of the minority.

Just before Mr Abingya presented the statement, the minority group, led by Mr J.H. Mensah, walked out of the chamber, questioning his eligibility as a minister. This follows the ruling by the Supreme Court over the status of the retained ministers. Two Minority members, however, sat in to listen to the statement. They were Mr Alabira Ibrahim, (PCP-Mion) and Mr George Dagmanyi Mpambi, (PNC-Bimbilla). Mr Abingya said following the deregulation of the petroleum sector of the ministry, the TOR is now responsible for the procurement of both finished products and crude oil for processing through a tender process. This process, he said, has been working smoothly since it began in June last year until recently when the GNPC which had won the tender on March 18, this year, failed to deliver on the scheduled dates. Mr Abingya said in an attempt to find out both remote and immediate causes of the diesel shortage, a committee has been set up to make recommendations on how to avoid a possible recurrence.

While awaiting the committee's findings and recommendations, the ministry has taken the necessary steps to ensure normalcy by importing more than 100,000 tonnes of gas oil from the sub-region and Europe. The Tender Board has also awarded contracts for the delivery of 90,000 tonnes of diesel which could take users up to mid-July, when TOR operations would have come back on stream. He outlined an expansion programme being carried out by TOR to raise its storage capacity from 28,000 to 45,000 barrels. This, he said, is expected to be completed by June 15 and that about one million barrels of crude oil have been ordered for the test run. Gri