NPA touts decline in illegal petroleum diversion

Following stringent measures instituted by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in the downstream petroleum sector, illegal activities of petroleum product exports to neighbouring countries have reduced drastically.

Illicit exports of petroleum have, since August 2017, decreased from 30 million litres to two million litres in August 2018, representing some 93 percent decline.

NPA’s CEO, Mr. Alhassan Tampuli, attributed the significant savings to the massive reduction in volumes of exported products that would have been diverted invariably for personal gains at the expense of the state.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of an industry stakeholders forum in the downstream sector in Accra, Mr. Tampuli indicated that despite the feat, the authority shall continue to ensure that protection is given to businesses of genuine players in the industry.

“We’ll continue to work with the good guys to expose the fraudulent ones who are desperately devising methods to undermine the decency of the industry. This is our sacred vow to the industry and the state,” he emphasized.

Instructively, the NPA has, through close collaboration with security agencies have so far arrested and detained 43 bulk road vehicles and one canoe for engaging in illegal activities with the products confiscated.

The NPA, Mr. Tampuli disclosed has also been successful in the reduction of product adulteration where failure rate has been reduced to less than one percent in July 2018, from the 6.20 and 4.91 percent failure rate recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

The authority noted that the Cylinder Recirculation Model of LPG distribution remains a viable national project which continuously receives national and stakeholder endorsements.

Mr. Tampuli however explained that despite the numerous successes, the authority is continuously putting in place several measures, some of which have already been introduced while others are yet to be take-off.

He mentioned the review of the Price Deregulation Policy on petroleum service providers, collaborations with DVLA and Road Safety Limited for petroleum haulage drivers, review of the Oil Loss Control Manual, directives to depot operators to ensure that measuring systems comply with industry requirements, the upcoming installation of automatic tank gauging systems and the development of new BDC licensing requirements among other initiatives as priority programmes for the Authourity.