Special topics
The National Petroleum Authority(NPA) has earmarked 27 Liquefied Petroleum Gas(LPG) stations to be shut down for not meeting the required standards for operations.
In total, 50 of such retail stations have already been closed down.
The Authority has, so far, inspected 479 gas retail stations following the explosion of a gas filling station at the Atomic Junction in Accra killing seven people and injuring 132 others.
Following the incident, Cabinet directed that the National Petroleum Authority to, among other things, undertake an inspection of all gas retail outlets and close down substandard ones.
Addressing a media soiree in Accra, Chief Executive officer of the NPA, Hassan Tampuli, said sanctions will be applied after a comprehensive assessment is done on closed outlets.
“We are still doing our monitoring and inspection to ensure safety protocols are adhered to, those who have not complied with the law, we will close them down,” he noted.
A total of 311 out of the 479 inspected are compliant whereas 91 out of the total are not in operation, although licensed.
The NPA is also urging the public to report cases of adulteration and delusion of fuel products, as a way to curb such situations.
Tampuli cited a case where GHS60, 000 settlement was recently paid to a consumer whose vehicle broke down due to substandard fuel.
“Our Quality Assurance team of the NPA checks the quality of petroleum products to avoid the adulteration or dilutions to ensure consumers get the best products. Any consumer of petroleum products who have any complaints should come and report to our complaint settlement committee with supporting documents for settlement,” Tampuli noted.
He also debunked media reports suggesting that there are about 15 taxes on the sale and marketing of petroleum products.
A think tank, Institute of Energy Security (IES) has been advocating a comprehensive review of taxes and levies on petroleum products.
Petroleum prices went up a number of times this year before hitting an all-year high in September, with petrol selling at an average of GHS4.29 at the pumps, and diesel going for an average of GHS4.23 per litre.
But Tampuli said not much can be done about the levies on petroleum products.
“The indicators which determines the prices of petroleum products at the pump include the exchange rate, the prize on the international market and the tax. There is just one tax which is the special petroleum tax
“For instance the primary distribution margin, (PDM) cannot be removed because that is what is used to pay for the cost of products from the ports to the inland depots so that consumers there will not pay more due to transportation,” Tampuli further explained.