Source: newsthemegh.com
Between January and April 2023, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) apprehended smugglers on the high seas in the Western Region and seized a total of 73,000 liters of crude oil and 108,000 liters of fuel.
Between January and April of this year, the separate activities were overseen by the Ghana Navy and Marine Police.
This was announced by Sandra Aidoo, the NPA’s Western Regional Manager, during a press conference on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Takoradi.
“In January, we first seized 108,000 liters of diesel on the high seas. The smugglers were detained, and they are now in court for trial. The other incident occurred in April and involved the seizure of 73,000 liters of crude oil, she claimed.
Mrs. Aidoo stated that the alleged diesel smugglers were facing legal charges and that the NPA will decide what should be done with the goods following the case’s conclusion.
“We still have the goods available, and we will decide what to do with it until the dispute has been resolved in court.
The smugglers fled with the crude oil, so we carried it to Accra, where the public will learn what happened to it, she continued.
Since some proprietors of gas stations buy the goods at low costs on the NPA’s dark side, Mrs. Aidoo claimed that the smugglers’ operations were having an impact on the quality of the fuel delivered at the pumps.
These situations are quite prevalent in the Western Region, which is having an impact on our business. The smugglers sell these items straight to the stations, and they are not subject to tax. We shouldn’t let them onto the market because the quality of such products cannot be assured, she added.
The Communications Department hosted a media event to emphasize NPA’s involvement in the petroleum downstream sector and address inquiries from the media about the sector.
In addition, four filling stations in the area had their licenses revoked and their operations shut down by the NPA, working with security agencies, according to Mrs. Aidoo.
Four retail establishments that did not achieve our score were closed as a result of our monitoring efforts. They don’t fulfill our specifications, so they aren’t operating as I speak, she added.
The Legal Manager at the NPA’s Legal Directorate, Ms. Farida Ali-Musah, stated in her presentation that the Authority had been given prosecutorial authority by the Attorney General to pursue criminal cases involving the nation’s oil supply chain.
In his turn, the NPA’s Head of Planning, Mr. Dominic Aboagye, stated that while 20% of the nation’s fuel usage was produced domestically, the remaining 80% was imported.
He said that both the public and commercial sectors were working to boost local gasoline output, including a private business building a refinery.