Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), turned away an oil vessel named GH-Austin, which was carrying 31.1 tonnes of gasoline laden with a high level of manganese from discharging and selling the product on the Ghanaian market.
It is not known where the gasoline was imported from but the regulator, at a media briefing in Accra, said it asked the importer to go and sell the product elsewhere since the manganese level was very high.
The action of the regulator was borne out of the recent concerns by some vehicle owners that they were frequently changing their car spark plugs due to what they suspect to be low-quality fuel being sold by some filling stations, especially in the capital, Accra.
Speaking to a section of journalists in Accra, the Chief Executive of NPA, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, said his outfit, in collaboration with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), reviewed the national standards which reduced the maximum allowable manganese level in regular gasoline from 18 milligrams per litre to six milligrams per litre and premium gasoline grade from 18 milligrams to two milligrams per litre.
Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid stated categorically that any imported products that failed to meet the revised standard would not be allowed into the country.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
