GOIL's petrol shortage: Gold-for-oil policy could be a cause - COPEC

Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has attributed the shortage of fuel at some GOIL fuel stations to the implementation of government’s flagship policy, Gold-for-Oil.

GOIL fuel stations at Tudu, 37 area, Tantra hill in Accra and some other pumps across the country show the oil marketing company has been lacking fuel, most specifically – Petrol.

Reacting to the development in an interview with Accra-based Citi News, Duncan Amoah, the Executive Secretary of COPEC indicated that the Gold-for-Oil policy has disrupted the market and may have significantly caused the fuel shortage.

“If you are asking cash for Gold-for-Oil products when the other traders could simply bring them products on credit, you will simply lead to market disruptions,” Duncan Amoah said.

He added, “I will not be surprised to see that at some point we will abandon the programme altogether because it probably might not be bad if you look at the premise of it trying to save the forex situation but as to whether the module where you bring in so much documentation before you are able to buy the products before that you need to make available ready cash, the market does not operate like that.”

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in November 2022 first announced the government’s plan to undertake the Gold-for-Oil initiative. The deal hinged on buying oil products with Ghana’s gold instead of the US dollar.

Dr Bawumia explained on Facebook that using gold to buy oil would help Ghana's dwindling foreign reserves while also reducing demand for US dollars from oil importers.

“It will fundamentally change our balance of payments and significantly reduce the persistent depreciation of our currency,” the vice president wrote.

Under the policy, the government believes that using gold to purchase oil products would also bring stability to the exchange rate market and ensure domestic oil operators do not solely depend on foreign exchange to import products.

EAN/MA