Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has revoked the licences of 40 oil marketing companies in the West African nation for failing to comply with industry regulations.
In January this year, the regulator, in a statement, announced the revocation of 30 licences of oil marketing companies.
This means that from January to date, the NPA has revoked additional 10 licences.
Briefing the media about the operations of the Authority this year, the NPA’s Chief Executive, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, said his outfit had revoked 40 licences between last year and this year, explaining that the said holders of the licences were engaging in illegalities.
“So, we’ve also been hard on people holding licences who didn’t have the correct requirements for holding those licences,” he said.
The NPA boss assured the industry players of the Authority’s commitment to continue to sanitise the industry by punishing those who do not comply with rules to ensure that those who obey the rules only operate.
Dr Abdul-Hamid stated that the NPA, with Support from EOCO, constituted a committee to go after OMCs who had defaulted in payment of margins and levies.
Dr Abdul-Hamid happily announced that since the formation of the committee, fund collection has increased and they have been able to even collect legacy debt.
“Today, we’ve been able to collect up to Gh¢73 million from people who were not paying or ready to pay this sum of money.”
The NPA boss further told the media that one of the things his outfit is seeking to do is amending the NPA Act 2005, Act 691 to reflect modern petroleum sector standards to help Ghanaians get the full benefits of their natural resources.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com