By Kofi Ahovi The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has launched manuals for the establishment and operation of petroleum products retail and Liquefied Petroleum Gas outlets in Ghana.
The NPA believes that these materials will come in handy for both industry players and non-industry alike.
Speaking at the launch, the acting Chief Executive of NPA, Alex Mould, said these booklets are testimony of the collaboration between the NPA and all other stakeholders all aimed at improving efficiency and environmental safety.
“Recent explosion of LPG stations in Kumasi and Accra has called for an even closer collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure that the downstream is not only profitable but also safe,” he added.
The Authority is by Act 691 of 2005 enjoined to regulate, oversee and monitor activities in the petroleum downstream industry; to establish a Unified Petroleum Price Fund and to provide for related purposes. The law further mandates it to set guidelines for petroleum marketing operations, protect the interests of consumers and petroleum service providers. We are also to monitor standards of performance and quality of the provision of petroleum services to consumers.
Liberalization of the downstream sector by the NPA have yielded huge dividends in the numbers of Petroleum Service Providers (PSPs) operating in the country. At the moment, there are 59 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and 45 Oil Trading Companies (OTCs). There are also 9 Bulk Distributing Companies (BDC) currently supporting the downstream sector with the importation of finished petroleum products into the country. 19 LPG Marketing Companies have also been established since the liberalization.
Throughout the country, 1,750 Petroleum Products Retail Outlets have also been established with more applications pending to receive permits to commence construction. This is welcome news since the growing numbers of retail outlets means that consumers can have easy access to fuel and related services such as car wash, convenient stores among others. Furthermore, the numbers of Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) exceeded 2000 by the close of 2010.
The growing investor interest in BRVs is improving the speed of product delivery to various depots and stations across the country. There have also seen considerable growth in the number of bunkering and calibration firms as well as lubricant manufacturers and importers operating in the country.
The establishment of the Joint Utility Hydrant Installation (JUHI) has also improved the steady supply of jet fuel at the airport.
According to the NPA boss, they are concerned about the growing number of calls by consumers concerning poor quality fuel and low quantity of fuel dispensed at the pumps at various stations. “In most of these cases, the Authority has either moved in to either close down the station or imposed fines,” he stated.
He assured that “The NPA is going to continue to apply these sanctions to serve as deterrent to other PSPs. We are also stepping up consumer education to ensure more consumers are made to understand their rights and what the law obliges retail outlets and their OMCs to do. While we take these reports and allegations very serious, we have also been mindful that the fuel station is a business which we are also mandated to protect and the consumer at the same time; this part of our mandate is crucial and must be understood”.
Since the beginning of the year, the Inspectorate and Monitoring Unit have embarked on a massive nationwide inspection of fuel and LPG retail outlets. These also include specially exercises on Kerosene monitoring as well as quality verification, together with the Ghana Standards Board.
So far five regions have been fully covered in this first quarter; these include Central, Eastern, Northern, Greater Accra and Western. The team is currently in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo with another group in the Volta region.
In a bid to arrest the thorny issue of under deliveries and adulteration in the course of the transportation of petroleum products to retailers, the Authority is in the final stages of employing the use of tracking devices on Bulk Road Vehicles. Since last year, all BRVs transporting premix fuel have been clearly marked with stickers.
Comments