By the end of February, Ghana will take delivery of four separate gasoline cargoes as part of the government’s gold-for-oil programme.
The shipments will total 155,000 tons of fuel in addition to the first consignment of 40,000 tons of oil under the deal.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited (BOST), Edwin Provencal on Eyewitness News.
“The next shipment will arrive on Sunday [February 19th]. It’s 35,000 tons of gasoline. The following week, another 40,000 tons will arrive, followed by another 40,000 tons that same week, and then another 40,000 tons in the last week of February. So, God willing, there will be four by the end of February”, he said.
When asked by host, Umaru Sanda Amadu if the precise timing of the move will bring a reduction in petroleum prices at the pumps, Mr. Provencal was confident and gave a February to March end date.
“By the end of February, I can bet you that you will see that the prices will be extremely competitive. By the end of March, we will see more. We know what we are getting now and what we got in the past from the suppliers. It will definitely reflect at the pumps. So we need to appreciate this deal.”
He also denied allegations that the Gold for Oil policy favours certain Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
Some OMCs claim that BOST has chosen specific oil marketing companies to receive fuel for distribution under the gold for oil policy.
Mr. Provencal stated that the claims were false.
“Respectfully it is an untruth. When you look at this programme, which [firm] has the biggest outlet in Ghana? It is Goil. And which BDC sells fuel to Goil? It is Go Energy and Go Energy is a subsidiary of Goil. So if the market is challenged or there is a market failure, and you want to correct the market failure, you need to come in with a corrective measure.
“If you want to bring prices down, and you have an OMC that has 435 stations, and you have another one that has 10 stations, as the regulator who would you use to drive the price down? Is it the one that has the 10 stations or the one with the 435 stations? The whole idea is to drive prices down…it is not discriminatory.”
“When the products came in, Go Energy made their requests, Stratcon made their requests, Maranatha made their requests, Everstone made their requests, Oil Channel made their request, so six BDCs made requests, so how on earth did we sell to only Go Energy, all the six took products from us.”