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The Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has urged LPG marketing companies to reassess their opposition to the cylinder recirculation model (CRM) and embrace the policy.
Speaking at the opening of the 2024 Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCon) in Accra on Wednesday, Dr. Abdul-Hamid noted that CRM was being implemented in all countries in the West African sub-region, including Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, and stressed that Ghana could not afford to continue to lag behind.
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He acknowledged the aggressive advertisements run by LPG marketing companies promoting the current LPG filling station concept but urged them to accept the change for safety and convenience in LPG distribution.
“I urge you to reassess your opposition to the CRM policy because all across the world, very few countries still adopt the filling station concept as far as LPG distribution is concerned. All across the West African sub-region of Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo, and everywhere else people are running the CRM model.
I don’t think Ghana can afford to continue to lag. I think that it is important that we catch up with modern trends and adapt to the flow,” he emphasized.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid highlighted that CRM had the potential to create more jobs along the value chain, mentioning operations of LPG bottling plants, depots, exchange points, and transportation of filled cylinders as job opportunities. The two-day conference, organized by the NPA in collaboration with the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC), and the Ministry of Energy, was held on the theme: “The Petroleum Downstream: Building a Future for Growth, Efficiency, and Sustainability.”
This year’s GhIPCon, the sixth in the series, aimed to address critical issues and explore opportunities within the petroleum downstream sector. Dr. Abdul-Hamid stated that the petroleum downstream industry had evolved into a vibrant and dynamic sector with increased private sector participation, contributing significantly to the economy. He estimated the sector’s monetary value at over GHS 71 billion, representing about 8.4% of the country’s 2023 GDP, with an average annual value of over GHS 35 billion over the past seven years.
Ghana’s neighboring countries such as Mali, Niger, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo, and Burkina Faso have been importing petroleum products from the country’s petroleum downstream industry, with re-exported and transited volumes totaling 385,154,100 liters in 2023. Dr. Abdul-Hamid indicated that the increase in export volumes was a testament to the NPA’s efforts to curb illicit fuel activities, which involved collaboration with the navy, marine police, and immigration.
He also announced that Senegal and Gambia had begun importing petroleum products from Ghana. The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy, Mr. Herbert Krapa, noted significant progress toward an efficient and sustainable energy industry since the last GhIPCon in 2022. He mentioned the introduction of the Gold for Oil Programme, which reduced the demand for forex reserves for petroleum product imports, increased local product supply volumes, and reduced premiums, resulting in a relative reduction in petroleum product prices. Additionally, the Board of the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation had been sworn in, and a $12 billion agreement with the TCP-UIC Consortium was signed for the first phase of the Petroleum Hub project in Jomoro, Western Region.
The Vice President also highlighted the increase in LPG accessibility from 25% in 2020 to 40% at the end of 2023, noting the launch of the National LPG Promotion Programme, which distributed LPG cookstoves and related accessories to first-time users. In their remarks, the CEO of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Dr. Patrick Ofori, and the CEO of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, Dr. Riverson Oppong, affirmed their commitment to collaborate with the NPA to promote the growth and sustainability of the petroleum downstream industry.
