Oil Marketing Companies in the Republic of Ghana are accusing the government of interfering in the petroleum downstream business which is highly deregulated.
According to the OMCs, the government’s interference in the petroleum downstream is dangerous, noting that it threatens the survival of OMCs /LPG Marketing Companies in the industry with the loss of jobs for the teeming masses being employed, accumulation of debts /levies and their eventual demise.
The accusation by the OMCs follows a purported directive issued by President Akufo-Addo to GOIL Company Ltd, an indigenous and leading OMC in the Republic of Ghana, to reduce fuel prices even though the industry is deregulated.
In a letter signed by Kwaku Agyemang-Duah, industry coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies to the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the 175 OMCs asked the government to immediately withdraw the directive to GOIL and desist from ever interfering in the market in one way or the other if the current pricing regime and deregulation would succeed.
They said the government cannot be a player and referee in a field that allows industries to operate the business more freely, make decisions efficiently and remove corporate restrictions.
“The State, which is a major shareholder of GOIL, has directed GOIL, a major downstream player, to reduce its ex-pump prices of fuel. If the foregoing is true, it is indeed unfortunate, dangerous as well as stressful especially given the current deregulation regime,” it stated.
It added that ‘compelling’ GOIL to reduce its fuel prices would consequently not make the company efficient and end up as another ‘TOR spectacle’.
“The cumulative effects are threatening the survival of OMCs/LPGMCs in the industry, with loss of jobs for the teeming masses being employed, accumulation of debts/levies and their eventual demise.
“We of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC) on behalf of the silent majority of 175 OMCs /LPGMCs hereby request that: Government withdraws the directive to GOIL and desists from ever interfering in the market in one way or the other if the deregulation regime is to succeed. Secondly, if Government thinks that the foregoing (deregulation regime) cannot be adhered to, we must, as a matter of urgency, halt the deregulation process and revert to the regulatory regime,’’ the letter said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com