Ghana: CBOD Denies Claims Members Are Hoarding Fuel To Sell Later At Higher Prices

The Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) has described as false and mischievous claims that Bulk Import, Distribution and Export Companies (BIDECs) are hoarding fuel in anticipation of a price increase at the next pricing window, which commences on March 16, 2026.

According to the Chamber, BIDECs have been supplying petroleum products at various fuel depots across Ghana since the first pricing window began on March 1, 2026.

The Chamber said its members continue to honour supply commitments to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) based on existing contracts, expressing surprise that some individuals would claim they are hoarding fuel to sell at higher prices during the next pricing window.

According to the Chamber, data from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA)’s Enterprise Relational Database Management System (ERDMS) shows that product distribution is ongoing, with loading patterns consistent with past trends.

In a statement issued and signed by Dr. Patrick Ofori, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, CBOD said the claim that “we are placing commercial profit interests above our patriotic responsibility is most unfortunate.”

CBOD said it is engaging with all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition (MoEGT), to mitigate the impact of the current surge in global market prices on consumers.

“As key players in the downstream petroleum sector, we would like to assure all stakeholders, especially consumers, that we will continue to conduct business in a fair and responsible manner,” the statement said.

It would be recalled that on Monday, two leading oil marketing companies, Star Oil and GOIL PLC, separately complained that they were unable to lift petroleum products, blaming the situation on an outage of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) operated by the Ghana Revenue Authority.

However, the claim was later refuted by Ghana Link Network Services, the operator of ICUMS, which insisted in a statement that its platform was functional and operating normally.

The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC), in a separate statement, revealed that the issue was traced to the Enterprise Relational Database Management System (ERDMS) hosted by the National Petroleum Authority, the regulator of the downstream petroleum sector.

COMAC said that, as part of the agreed remedial measures, ICUMS was initially decoupled from the ERDMS platform to allow manual loading.

“During this process, it was conclusively identified that the challenge was originating from the ERDMS system itself. The issue was swiftly rectified, and orders began processing successfully by 12:23 p.m.”

The Chamber assured all stakeholders that the challenge has now been fully resolved and that normal loading activities have resumed across the industry.