Kwame Osei Prempeh
On Monday, February 17, 2020 a new page was opened in the sale of petroleum products in Ghana as GOIL Energy began pumping higher petroleum products to its customers.
The sale of higher grade petrol, the Researched Octane Number 95 (RON95), was ushered in; thanks to a bold decision by GOIL to serve petroleum consumers in Ghana a quality product at a cheaper price.
For about three decades, the standard for octane rate in Ghana has been a minimum of RON91.
The standard was set in the 1990s, and it was agreed that the country should do a minimum of RON91.
Octane Number is the standard measure of the performance of an engine or aviation fuel.
It is believed that the higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before igniting.
Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in Ghana have for several years been marketing RON91, while Western nations, especially in Europe, have moved to RON95 and RON97.
Malaysia, for instance, is among the several Asian nations that are using RON95 and RON97.
But at all its fuel stations in Ghana, GOIL made the RON95 product available from February 17, to its customers at no extra cost.
With the introduction of the new product, GOIL is making an important statement that it was about time consumers were served the environmentally friendly green-colored RON95 at no extra cost.
One would have thought that with the migration from RON91 (a less superior petroleum product) to RON95, a higher quality product, GOIL’s fuel prices would increase.
But that was not the case; the petroleum giant maintained its price rather than selling at higher prices as some oil marketers do.
Maintaining its price was surprising to many, including journalists and the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC Ghana) who were on field visitation to verify the introduction of the new product.
At its Burma Camp GOIL station where samples of the product were displayed, questions were asked about why it was bent on maintaining its price when it was increasing the octane rate. Was it the case that it was exploiting consumers and making abnormal profit with the RON91, one journalist sought to find out.
Nationwide Distribution
As of Saturday morning, February 22, GOIL has extended the RON95 to the northern part of Ghana, meaning it is now covering the entire country with the superior product.
That was welcoming news for COPEC Ghana, energy advocacy body that was well known at barking at OMCs for not doing the right thing.
Price Reduction
But more welcoming for COPEC Ghana is the fact that GOIL on that Saturday morning as it extended the supply nationwide, took a shocking decision to reduce the pump price for the RON95 from GH¢ 5.48 to GH¢5.40, an 8 pesewas reduction.
“SuperXP RON95 is now GH¢5.40 while Diesel will now sell at GH¢5.41,” a press release issued by GOIL’s Public Relations Manager, Robert Kyere, said.
Praises
Duncan Amoah, Chief Executive Officer of COPEC Ghana, was full of joy when he heard that GOIL had reduced its prices, showering praises on the company.
With an elated voice, Mr. Amoah said “even though they (GOIL) introduced a superior quality product, they have also taken step to reduce prices so that consumers are able to afford and protect their cars and their engines.”
“Like I indicated, for every four kilometres that you might spend or use a litre of RON91, the 95 was likely to give you about five kilometres,” he said as he spoke about the economic benefits of RON95.
GOIL, according to him, deserves to be praised “because if it had done wrong it would have been chastised.”
Other OMCs Following Suit
Mr. Amoah revealed that other OMCs including Petrosol and Allied Oil were at various stages of negotiation to introduce RON95; welcoming news for motorists nationwide.
He appealed to motorists to discriminate against OMCs that refuse to introduce RON95 and sell at appropriate price.
BY Melvin Tarlue