NPA warns oil companies

ALEX Mould, acting Chief Executive of National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has warned private companies licensed to operate under the de-regulation exercise to abide by the rules and regulations governing their operations.

He explained that when the companies were given the licenses, they were equally given rules and regulations to abide by, explaining that investigations carried out by the NPA suggested that a lot of them were violating the rules.

Mr. Mould said the shortage of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the country would have been a different story had the said companies followed the laid down rules, and pointed out that what appears to be a shortage of LPG is not really so and that the problem is as a result of improper distribution of the product.

“The NPA is going to be very strict on them this time round to ensure that they obey the rules and regulations so that in the next two years, we will be able to alleviate some of the problems Ghanaians are now facing,” he stated.

The NPA boss said the de-regulation allows private companies to import petroleum products into the country and own tank farms and loading gantries but most of them were not doing so.

Mr. Mould, who was touring the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) last Friday with journalists to acquaint himself with LPG situation at the refinery, insisted that the current LPG situation in country was as a result of lack of proper distribution.

They visited the tank farm, the loading gantries and the jetty at TOR.

Mr. Mould explained that TOR has tanks that can take 6,500 Metric Tonnes whiles the refinery can only produce 250 tonnes a day.

“The present demand is artificial. We have a demand of 1,000 metric tonnes a day, which is mainly caused by vehicles, because the LPG is heavily subsidized about 40%, but the refinery can produce between 200 and 250 tonnes daily,” Mr. Mould stated.

The NPA boss explained that his outfit was considering how the jetty, the pipe lines and the tanks could be expanded, adding that they were also considering building another storage depot outside Tema because the jetty at Tema was the only one in the country. He warned that if anything should happen to the present jetty, there will be no LPG in the country and the only option then would be to import from neighbouring countries.

“Producing the product here at the refinery is far cheaper as compared to importing it. We are compelled to import it so as to augment the shortfalls of the refinery based on the current configuration of the refinery and the type of crude oil being brought into the country,” the NPA boss remarked.

Mr. Mould suggested that the subsidy on LPG should be removed for the domestic users or vehicle users be banned from purchasing the product. These, in his view, would be the only way to solve the perennial shortage of LPG.