Govt to track petroleum exports

Government plans to install tracking devices on fuel tankers transporting petroleum products for export in the country in a bid to monitor and halt the rising spate of smuggling.

The installation of the tracking devices forms part of interim measures being introduced by government to help halt the illicit trade of petroleum products in the downstream sub-sector said to cost the government about GH¢850 million.

The Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko, said installing the devices on the trucks would make it easier to monitor the export and import of petroleum products, and prevent instances where products meant for re-export, which did not have taxes imposed on them were dumped and sold in the country.

“We are also installing tracking devices on trucks loading and transporting petroleum products for export,” he said at a luncheon meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce Ghana in Accra.

On export of petroleum products, government, he said, had decided to designate the Bolgatanga Depot in the Upper East Region as the sole export depot for the Northern Sector and Tema Depot as the sole export depot for the Southern Sector.

“Products being moved into Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger can only be picked up in Bolgatanga. No longer are we going to allow trucks to come from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to Tema to pick up products.

“We will move those products to Bolga and that is where they will pick up from. We can monitor that distance, it is more difficult monitoring from Tema all the way to Bamako,” the minister added.

Government would also introduce refundable administrative fees on products marked for export to make it uneconomical to discharge them locally and refunds made only upon the submission of evidence of discharge at the appropriate destination, evidence of which must be obtained in collaboration with the destination country’s authorities.

Inward smuggling

The Minister said on the illicit importation of fuel, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) had been directed to fully investigate and impose the necessary sanctions, not excluding, if necessary, withdrawal of licences on the parties involved in the illegal activity.

“The Ministry has subsequently communicated these interim actions as policy directives to the NPA to implement with immediate effect,” he said.

Many Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have raised concerns of the adverse impact of fuel smuggling on their businesses. They want government to address the situation as a matter of urgency considering the huge sums of revenue that was being lost currently.