Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has held a sensitisation workshop for commercial drivers to equip them with the requisite knowledge on petroleum pricing and quality.
The day’s event was on the back of the recent continuous hike in petroleum prices on the global market due to the rippling effect of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking at the workshop, Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, said the government has instituted several measures to ensure an adequate supply of petroleum products on the West African nation.
“I have seen video of mates actually in fisticuffs with passengers. You are upset about petroleum price increases and so on…all of those things came to our attention, and it is a result of a lack of knowledge on how we arrive at these petroleum prices,” he said.
He said “we decided to organise this workshop so that you understand that, petroleum prices don’t go up and down depending on the mood of President Akufo-Addo or they don’t go up and down depending on the mood of the Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority.
“It is important for us all as Ghanaians to understand how all these come about because now we all listen to the radio and we can see that there is a worldwide crisis…there is a crisis in Britain…there is a crisis in America of all proportion. I am sure most of you are shocked that America is now airlifting baby food from Germany,” he added.
Head of Economic Regulation at the National Petroleum Authority, Abass Tasunti, took the participants through the dynamics and what goes into petroleum pricing in Ghana.
He emphasised that the government has put in place several measures to ensure the country does not experience a shortage of petroleum products which is being experienced in oil-producing countries like Nigeria.
Mr. Tasunti mentioned the recent reduction of fuel margins, collaboration with the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and intervention of the Bank of Ghana in the forex market has helped in cushioning the situation.
Some participants described the forum as beneficial and enlightening.
“This meeting is an eye-opener to us. We will go back and share the knowledge with our colleagues and return to further dialogue with the NPA,” one of the participants summarised.
They, however, called on the NPA to step up efforts in dealing with adulterated fuel from some filling stations in the country.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, described the workshop as timely.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com