The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, has announced that a new 6,000-metric-ton (MT) LPG storage facility, currently being developed by a private petroleum warehousing partner, will be completed within the next two months.
He said the additional storage capacity would significantly improve supply reliability and reshape industry dynamics, addressing one of the sector’s long-standing challenges of inadequate storage.
That, he said, formed part of wide-ranging measures aimed at improving safety, fairness and transparency in Ghana’s LPG sector.
"Thankfully, with the support of the private sector, in the next one or two months, we should have another 6,000 metric ton cylinder LPG storage facility that the petroleum warehousing is putting together, and that will greatly change the dynamics in the industry, because the question of storage has always been an issue."
"And so, we welcome the use of the petroleum warehousing building, that particular storage facility. It will greatly help us, and even by May next year, we will have a dedicated vessel, which will be commissioned in March in South Korea, just for LPG purposes," he said.
Event
Speaking at the maiden National LPG Forum in Accra last Thursday, Mr Tameklo highlighted concerns over alleged underweight cylinder sales and revealed that the NPA was using “mystery shopping” to detect malpractice, promising strict sanctions, including possible license withdrawal for offending stations.
He addressed industry worries such as suppliers’ premiums, subsidy targeting and financial pressures on bottling and cylinder manufacturing companies.
He mentioned that the NPA Board would soon consider a framework to disburse the cylinder investment margin to ease industry burdens.
"Suppliers' premium is a huge industry concern.
What we want to do, and it's something we are looking at with the economic regulation team, is that all the suppliers must bring to us in a table form, the things that go into the imports.
So, we want to interrogate the numbers and see whether the supplier's premium really does reflect economic conditions at every point in time."
"We are considering a framework to disburse the cylinder investment margin fund to the bottling plants and the cylinder manufacturing companies."
Safety
He said safety remained a central theme, with a strong warning to the public against rushing to siphon fuel from broken-down tankers.
‘We want to use this platform to encourage as many of our countrymen and women that please, when an LPG tanker is down, a fuel tanker is down, please don't go with your gallon. Please don't go with your cylinder," he cautioned.
He reaffirmed the NPA’s commitment to collaboration, improved environmental sustainability through the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) rollout, and achieving over 50 per cent
LPG penetration by 2030, stating that Ghana aimed to compete with regional leaders such as Cote d’Ivoire.
LPG forum
The National LPG Forum, organised by the NPA created a dedicated platform for dialogue on the supply, distribution and long-term development of LPG in the country.
According to the organisers, the forum aimed to facilitate a comprehensive review of the National LPG Promotion Policy and assess the effectiveness of ongoing LPG interventions.
The event was on the theme: “One Industry, One Vision: A Collaborative Approach to LPG Sector Transformation”.
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