The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has served notice concerning an impending nationwide shortage of petroleum products.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, the Executive Director of IES, Nana Amoasi VII, said the depreciation of the cedi and the lack of working capital of importers and distributors of fuel to sustain their businesses are the factors for the looming shortage.

He added that importers and Bulk Oil Distribution Companies(BDCs) have difficulty in acquiring refined crude oil.

“There is something to be much worried about and that’s the likelihood of the shortage of the commodity on the market on the back of a reported shortage of dollars for the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies, the importers and the erosion of working capital of some of these importers. The price of crude oil remains high and the cedi value continues to decline”.

“We first raised these concerns in March this year and in the following month there were reports of the pocket of shortages of fuel across the country”, he explained.

According to Nana Amoasi VII, fuel crisis would be inevitable if the government does not implement measures to avoid the situation.

“This time around any incident of shortage may be widespread if we fail to plan against it. It is more serious”.

Earlier in September, the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited (BOST) said that there will be no fuel crisis as many have declared.

The company explained that estimations from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) indicated that  the entire amount of fuel  as of September 20, 2022, was equivalent to 43 days worth of national consumption, not 13 days as circulated.

“Instead of the expected minimum of six weeks of national demand in storage as per the second mandate, BOST currently has stocks which can only last 13 days in the event no further imports of products are carried.

“At any material moment, the total quantities of product available in the country, thus across all tank farms as tracked by the National Petroleum Authority, includes BOST stocks and stocks of private BDCs,” the release explained.

Petroleum products are now costing more at the pump, some Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are selling petrol per litre for GHC13.00 instead of the prior price of GHC11.10, a 16% increase.

Also, the cost of diesel per litre has increased dramatically from its prior price of around GHC 13.90 to roughly GHC15.99. This represents a 12% rise.

Meanwhile, the cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is expected to increase by 10%.

Source: The Independent Ghana