According to the acting Chief Executive of the NPA, Hassan Tampuli, although it is still investigating the matter, its preliminary checks show that the companies erred in getting involved in the transaction.

[contextly_sidebar id=”uPDlCeTrYO1erbGBlLApTO23mpJWPkNw”]Speaking on Eyewitness News, he said the relevant sanctions will be imposed on each of the companies when its investigations are concluded.

“Nobody has said Movenpiina and Zup Oil will not be sanctioned for trading in the downstream business without a license. That also extends to the 49 companies which engaged in the business of trading in the off-spec petroleum products without a license. And we will go after every single one of them,” he said.

It emerged last week that, the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation company (BOST) signed a deal to sell about 5 million litres of contaminated fuel to Movenpiina Energy and Zup Oil at a discounted price that could result in Ghana losing about GHs7 million in revenue.

The Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, constituted an 8-member investigative committee to look thoroughly into the matter, but barely a week afterward, he announced at a press conference that the committee found no wrongdoing in the deal.

“The investigations so far carried out by the state security agencies and the NPA show that on the basis of previous practice, there was no wrongdoing at BOST on the sale of the 5 million liters of contaminated products. We wish to advise that social commentators will in future cross check their facts before making allegations that have the tendency of causing unnecessary panic among consumers of petroleum products,” Mr Agyarko said.

Meanwhile, the former Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor, has accused the government of covering up the wrongdoing with its claim that the investigations have exonerated the Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST), Alfred Obeng.

But Mr. Hassan Tampuli said the previous government should also be blamed for the current situation.

“John Jinapor should not in his zeal to deal with this matter indict government and indict the minister by muddying the waters and creating factions that do not exist. He should start by offering the Ghanaian public an apology for sitting down and watching this off-spec business to go on for so long,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Movenpiina, Zup Oil, others will still be punished – NPA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the contaminated fuel and its controversial sale were deliberately orchestrated by some individuals to make money off the state.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PeEn8GYE0YJ1H8pyigsy8h9KUWOJML2L”]Speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis and current affairs programme, The Big Issue on Saturday, he said the incident was similar to other acts of organized crime in different parts of the world.

“Somebody must have been engaged in this whole fuel fraud and somehow it needed to be offloaded and a company has been set up not properly incorporated and we have decided to reduce that value of whatever has been contaminated deliberately, I don’t think it was a mistake. This fuel fraud is an organized crime. It is not just in Ghana…Don’t ever think these things are done by mistake,” he said.

It emerged last week that the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation company (BOST) signed a deal to sell about 5 million litres of contaminated fuel to Movenpiina Energy and Zup Oil at a discounted price that could result in Ghana losing about GHs7 million in revenue.

Energy sector analysts, Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) said that BOST exhibited unwarranted discretion in the award of the contract to Movenpiina but the management of BOST in a rebuttal said its decision to sell off the contaminated or off-spec products to Movenpiina was the most prudent considering the potential loss of revenue.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) later announced that the Movenpiina and Zup Oil were not licensed to operate in the oil and gas sector.

The Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko has constituted an 8-member investigative committee to look thoroughly into the matter amidst calls from different groups including ACEP and the minority in parliament for the Chief Executive Officer of BOST, Alfred Obeng to be interdicted.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post BOST fuel was deliberately contaminated – Franklin Cudjoe appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This claim was made by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP).

[contextly_sidebar id=”iy7jCR0AT6Svjx5dyF8uopEJ7vUm5KqR”]Among the claims, against BOST,  ACEP said the company’s management exhibited unreasonable discretion in the award of the contract to Movenpiina and ZUPOIL.

ACEP also held that, there was “a puzzle” about where ZUPOIL’s facility is located and that BOST had not put in place measures to monitor the movement of the product from ZUPOIL’s facilities to unsuspecting consumers.

But BOST retorted in a statement that its technical team inspected the facility of  ZUPOIL “and was satisfied.”

Also, “the product released was going to be scheduled to reflect the capacity of the facility at any point in time,” the statement added.

“BOST deploys the use of bulk road vehicles that have tracking devices installed and have dully met the requirements of NPA to haul products. Thus, rendering BOST extremely responsible. Anyone with information on the illegal sale of the product at the pumps should report to the appropriate authority for immediate action.”

ACEP also challenged BOST to show the public where the ZUPOIL storage facilities are located but, BOST’s statement did not address that.

ACEP’s claims

ACEP said Movenpiina initiated the transaction with BOST on 19th May, 2017, some ten days before it became a legally recognized company in Ghana.

Also, Movenpiina had not obtained the requisite license from the NPA to trade in the industry, according to the centre.

ZUPOIL LTD, the company which was named “the off-taker” was said to have a storage facility that could accommodate the volume of product, but was not known in Ghana’s petroleum industry.

Thus ACEP said it was illegal for BOST to have engaged Movenpiina and ZUPOIL LTD in the sale and storage of the off-spec petroleum product.

GHc 7 million lost in dealings

The claims follow the revelation Ghana is said to have lost about GHc 7 million in revenue following attempts by the BOST to sell the contaminated fuel to some oil marketing companies.

Documents sighted by Citi News indicate that, BOST agreed to sell about GHc 5 million litres of the contaminated fuel to Movenpiina.

Following the controversy, ACEP has called on the Chief Executive Officer of BOST, Alfred Obeng, to step aside for a full-scale investigation into the alleged sale of contaminated fuel.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We didn’t err in dealings with Movenpiina, ZUPOIL – BOST appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.