The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) says it is intensifying its monitoring operations at retail outlets of petroleum products to arrest the recent phenomenon of contaminated fuel.
Reports of the discharge of contaminated fuel has hit hard at the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited (BOST), which has been accused of releasing 5 million litre of off-spec fuel into the system.
NPA says it has conducted investigations into the reports but seeks to intensify its monitoring activities “to ensure that the quality of fuel sold to the consumers is not compromised”.
It also said it will take legal action against two companies: Movenpinaa Energy and Zup Oil, which are accused of infringing on the Authority’s regulations.
These were contained in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Following media reports that Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited (BOST) has released 5 million litres of off-spec fuel from their Accra Plains Depot unto the market, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) conducted some investigations into the allegation and wishes to share its preliminary findings with the general public:
BOST had at their premises, 5 million litres of an off-spec product. This is alleged to have resulted from BOST accidently discharging gasoline into a diesel storage tank which already contained some diesel sometime in January 2017.
The tank containing the off-spec product was subsequently isolated from normal marketing and sales operations whilst investigation into the incident was initiated by BOST.
Based on the recommended disposal options by a Committee that investigated the incident, BOST opted to sell off the off-spec product to a company known as Movenpinaa Energy.
Subsequently, BOST notified the Ghana Revenue Authority of their intention to dispose of the 5 million litres of the off-spec product from its storage. The process of evacuation commenced on 20th June, 2017. So far, the quantity of the off-spec product evacuated from the depot is 471, 000 litres as indicated below:
The above stated quantities were loaded into ten Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs).
On 23rd June, 2017, additional 380, 000 litres of the off-spec product was loaded into eight BRVs at the depot. However, the dispatch of these BRVs from the depot were halted on the instructions of the NPA when the information about the evacuation got to the NPA. This is because BOST failed to notify the NPA and acquire prior authorization before commencing the evacuation of the off-spec product. Officials of the NPA visited the BOST depot on 27th June, 2017 and confirmed that the 8 BRVs were still stationed at the depot with their contents intact. Samples were taken from all 8 BRVs as well as the isolated BOST storage tank for analysis.
The NPA was able to discover the location where 6 of the BRVs discharged the off-spec product they carried from the BOST depot. This was made possible by the NPA’s BRV Tracking System.
Officials from the NPA visited the location (Zup Oil) at Gulf-City, Tema on 27th June, 2017. Documentation presented to the officials suggested that all the ten BRVs were off-loaded at the facility. However, this is subject to confirmation. In this regard the NPA is conducting further investigation to determine the actual quantity and quality of the products received at the facility of Zup Oil. Meanwhile, samples of the product from the tanks have been taken for analysis and the tanks sealed to prevent tampering.
We wish to assure the general public that the NPA is keenly monitoring the situation and shall keep the general public updated on developments. Meanwhile, the NPA has intensified its monitoring activities at the petroleum products retail outlets nationwide to ensure that the quality of fuel sold to the consumers is not compromised.
Additionally, the NPA has noted that Movenpinaa Energy and Zup Oil are not licensed to undertake any commercial activity in the downstream petroleum industry. Their activities, therefore, infringe on section 11 of the National Petroleum Authority Act, Act 691, 2005.
Accordingly, the NPA will take appropriate legal action against the said companies.
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