Mines and Energy Committee lauds NPA for effective operations

Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy have lauded the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for effective regulation of the petroleum downstream industry in the country.

They also expressed satisfaction with the measures and strategies put in place to ensure the smooth implementation of the cylinder recirculation model (CRM) and technologies used in the distribution of petroleum products.

This was done during a meeting between the committee and the management of the NPA.

The committee, led by its Chairman, Samuel Atta Akyea, had visited the NPA as part of its oversight responsibility.

It was also to allow the committee members to engage the NPA on a range of issues, particularly regarding the CRM, and also know first-hand, how the authority was working to ensure the effective operation of the petroleum downstream industry.

Tour

Welcoming the members of the committee to his office, the Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, was happy that the committee had shown such interest in its operations.

Supported by his two deputies, Perry Okudzeto and  Linda Asante, as well as the various Directors and Heads of Department, Dr Abdul-Hamid took the committee members through some presentations cataloguing the operations of the NPA.

After the meeting at the NPA head office, the committee was also conducted around some industry installations to provide insight into the operations of the industry.

That would also guide the decision-making of the committee as overseers so members would be able to give the NPA guidance for a more efficient downstream sector.

Also, the MPs were taken through the operations in the National ECTS Command Centre, which houses the BRVTS and the National Retail Outlet Automation Architecture.

Additionally, the committee members visited some LPG Storage and Bottling Plant Facilities in Tema such as the Quantum Terminals Group’s LPG Storage Facility and the New Gas Bottling Company Plant in Tema.

At the bottling plant, the committee members were informed that the $16 million bottling plant currently has two units — one with the capacity to fill 1,800 pieces of 6kg and 12.5kg cylinders per hour, while the other unit could fill up to 1,400 pieces of 3kg cylinders per hour respectively.

The company further expressed its readiness to serve Ghanaians with LPG at their doorstep.

Committee impressed

Members of the Committee were quite impressed with the facilities and assured their support for such investments to improve Ghana’s petroleum downstream sector.

They were particularly thrilled with the use of technology, such as the bulk road vehicle tracking system (BRVTS), the national fuel marking system, and the enterprise relational database management system (ERDMS) to curb third-party transactions, diversions, and tampering and improve revenue generation.