Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid
The Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has urged LPG marketing companies to re-asses their opposition to the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) and embrace the policy.
He said CRM was being implemented in all the countries in the West African sub-region indicating that Ghana cannot afford to lag behind.
Speaking at the opening of the 2024 Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCon) in Accra the NPA Boss said he had noticed the aggressive advertisements run by LPG marketing companies (LPGMCs) promoting the current LPG filling station concept.
He acknowledged that though it may be within the rights of the LPGMCs, he urged the companies to adjust and accept the change since it would ensure safety and convenience in the distribution and use of LPG in the country.
“I urge you to reassess your opposition to the CRM policy because all across the world, very few countries still adopt the filling station concept as far as LPG distribution is concerned,” he said.
The two-day conference organized by the NPA in collaboration with the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC)and the Ministry of Energy was on the theme, ‘The Petroleum Downstream: Building a Future for Growth, Efficiency, and Sustainability’.
This year’s GHIPCON, the sixth in the series, has the overall objective of addressing critical issues and exploring opportunities within the petroleum downstream sector.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid said over the years, the petroleum downstream had evolved into a vibrant and dynamic industry with increased private sector participation.
“It has become a key contributor to the growth and development of the economy, we estimate that the sector had a monetary value of over GH¢71 billion, representing about 8.4% of the country’s 2023 GDP.
“Over the past seven years, the industry returned an average annual value of over GH¢35 billion,” he said.
The NPA Boss said as a result of improvements in the performance of the economy driven by deliberate government policy initiatives aimed at expanding the productive sectors of the economy, neighbouring countries have been importing petroleum products from the country’s petroleum downstream industry.
He said the volumes of petroleum products re-exported and transited to the neighbouring countries totaled 385,154,100 litres in 2023.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid said the increase in volumes of the exports was a testament of significant successes in the NPA’s efforts towards curbing illicit fuel activities in the country.
He indicated that the Authority has intensified its collaboration with the navy, marine police and immigration to continue to arrest people engaged in illicit activities.
He announced that Senegal and Gambia had also begun the importation of petroleum products from Ghana.
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy, Herbert Krapa noted that since the last GhIPCon in 2022, Ghana has made significant progress towards an efficient and sustainable energy industry.
Besides, the Vice President said the Board of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation had been sworn in, and a $12 billion Agreement with TCP-UIC Consortium had been signed for the development of the first phase of the Petroleum Hub project at Jomoro, in the Western Region.
In their remarks, the CEO of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Dr. Patrick Ofori, and the CEO of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Dr. Riverson Oppong affirmed their commitment to collaborate with the NPA to promote the growth and sustainability of the petroleum downstream industry.
A Daily Guide Report