Ghana’s strategic Petroleum stock-keeping company, Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) has finally taken delivery of 5,400 pieces of 12-inch pipes it procured in Houston Texas, USA, about twelve years ago.
The company secured Eximbank USA facility in 2009 to expand the capacity of its petroleum pipeline between Tema and Akosombo from six inches to 12 inches and also enhance the storage capacities of Accra Plains, Kumasi, Buipe and Bolgatanga depots.
Unfortunately, contractual and other issues with the manufacturer delayed the shipment of the pipelines to Ghana and were left at the mercy of the weather in the US.
Interestingly, due to some effort of the then Managing Director of BOST, the late George Mensah Oakley and his successor the current Managing Director, Edwin Alfred Obodai Provencal, the company succeeded in ironing out all the issues with manufacturer and shipped the pipelines into Ghana earlier this week.
The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman led a delegation from the company including another member of the board, Mrs Joyce Agyeman Attafuah; Managing Director, Edwin Provencal, and General Manager Assets and Infrastructure, Nicholas Samari to take delivery of the equipment from the Tema Port.
Addressing a section of journalists at the Tema Port the Managing Director of the company, Edwin Alfred Provencal said the pipelines were procured at a total cost of $63.2 million.
Mr. Edwin Provencal, Managing Director of BOST
He, however, said the company had to incur extra expenditure of $8 million for sandblasting and recoating before shipping arrangements were made to bring the pipes to Ghana for $2.1 million.
“Imagine the opportunity cost of this investment -$63.2million, invested at an interest rate of nine per cent annum for 12 years. The current value would have been $178 million,’’ he opined.
Responding to questions from the media, Mr Provencal said the pipelines would be installed in the middle of 2022.
He said they estimate about 500 jobs to be created when the installation of the pipelines begin in August 2022.
Touching on the benefits BOST would derive if the pipes are installed, Mr Provencal said it would improve the proportion of product transfer from Tema to Bolgatanga to serve the export market in the Northern regions.
This, he said, would tremendously improve the utilization and turnover of the company’s marine assets.
He added that the installation of the new pipelines is expected to increase the utilization of their Miami Water depot which also serves as a booster station between Tema and Akosombo.
“It is the expected that the company will, through the installation of this new line, attain the target of meeting the ever-increasing demand of the landlocked countries in the Sahelian region at the lowest possible transmission cost,” he stated.
“With the initial refurbishment of the existing sixth inch line between Tema and Akosombo and the Buipe-Bolgatanga Pipeline, which stretches more than kilometres, we are confident that this new pipeline will increase volume from Tema to Akosombo by threefold to increase the turnaround time of the barges. This will tremendously improve the utilization and turnover of our marine assets,” he added.
Mr Provencal indicated that over the past two years, the company has succeeded in putting close to 80 per cent of their assets to use as compared to a paltry 17 per cent at the beginning of the year 2017.
“It is expected that by close of 2022, 100 per cent of BOST assets will be in utilization to ensure the mandate is delivered to the letter,’’ he opined.
“The company is poised to increase its storage infrastructure to increase the volumes of product it can store for the nation to meet our demands during odd times.’’
He commended the government for being a responsive shareholder to provide the company with the needed space to be able to meet the cost of maintenance of its storage and transmission infrastructure to continue serving the interest of the people.
The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman said the arrival of the pipes is refreshing as it would propel the company to further heights.
He commended the immediate past board for their assistance, as well as the Managing Director, Edwin Provencal and his predecessor for their effort that led to the shipment of the pipes to Ghana.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
