A total of five Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) operating in Ghana’s petroleum downstream have had their operating licences revoked by the National Petroleum Authority, energynewsafrica.com can report.
This has reduced the number of BDCs to 30 presently from the previous number of 41 BDCs in 2016.
The revocation of the licences was as a result of the companies’ failure to fully satisfy their financial obligations to downstream regular National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
The companies are L.I.B Ghana Ltd, Imperial Energy Ltd, Mimshack Energy Ltd, Rochelle Energy Ltd and WI Energy Ltd.
This was contained in the 2019 Ghana Petroleum Industry Report which was outdoored virtually recently.
The report noted that the annual BDC licence fees of US$ 400,000 was revised downwards to US$300,000 following negotiations by the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distribution companies (CBOD).
Giving details of the performance of the BDCs with regard to fuel import, the report said the nine
BDCs imported above 100,000mt in 2019 compared to 7 in
2018.
It further said five companies imported products above 50,000mt but below 100,000mt, while 12 BDCs accounting for nine percent of total import brought in cargoes below 50,000mt. In 2019,19 BDCs imported products above 30kt per annum as compared to the 15 BDCs in 2018.
“Although the number of BDCs that imported products above 100,000mt increased from seven in 2018 to nine in 2019, the concentration of market activity still remains with a few players,” the report said.
“The 80 percent market share controlled by the nine BDCs brings into question the commercial viability of the 12 BDCs whose imports were below 50,000mt, given their operating expenses and an annual licence fee of US$ 400,000,” it added.
Meanwhile, the number of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) grew from 112 in 2018 to 120 in 2019, representing a seven percent increase.
The number of the retail outlets operated by the OMCs also grew from 2,944 to 3,055 in 2019.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
