The Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) CEO has expressed surprise at a transaction between the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) and an unlicensed foreign company, BB Energy.
Stating the position of the law, Senyo Hosi said any company that wants to deal in petroleum products on Ghana’s shores is required to be duly licensed.
He was reacting to the controversial deal in which BOST sold some 942,000 barrels of crude oil to BB Energy at a discount of $2 on each barrel.
The revelation was first made by Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) boss, Duncan Amoah who claimed the nation lost an estimated GHS30million in revenue from the transaction.
The Lebanon-based energy trading company has not been licensed by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) but BOST has justified its decision to trade with it.
At a news conference in Accra Tuesday, BOST Head of Trade Department, Albert Martey said BB Energy did not need any permit to buy products in Ghana.
“If you buy a product and send it to Cote d’Ivoire to refine it in their refinery, you don’t need to register there before you can get your product refined,” he defended BOST’s action.
Responding to questions about the deal on Joy FM’s Top Story, Mr Hosi said any company that wants to buy crude, finished products or contaminated products, has to register with the NPA.
Although BB Energy could bring in petroleum products, the CBOD boss said the company needs a license to buy such products in the country.
“It can operate anything up to the shoreline of Ghana but anything that happened on our shores is regulated by the NPA,” he said.
JoyOnline
