NPP was wrong in allowing establishment of Sentuo Refinery – COPEC

The Akufo-Addo administration made a mistake, according to Sampson Addae, Head of Pricing, Monitoring, and Research at the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), in approving the construction of the Chinese-owned Sentuo Refinery.

He claims that it is economically absurd to permit the establishment of Sentuo Refinery at a time when the state-owned Tema Oil Refinery is having difficulties.

His remarks are in response to the most recent rise in gas prices. The most significant increase in fuel prices since February 2023, when a liter of gasoline sold for GH¢15.40 and GH¢15.50 for diesel, is now being experienced.

CHECK ALSO: Dr. Bawumia, please excavators do not vote – Concerned Citizen

The NPA directed the imposition of additional fees in a directive dated April 3, 2024, which was sent to different parties involved in the oil marketing and distribution industry. The fees were 16 pesewas per liter for gasoline, 14 pesewas per liter for diesel, and 14 pesewas for each kilogram of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

As a result, GOIL, the state-owned Oil Marketing Company, changed the price of gasoline and diesel. They are now retailing for GH¢14.15 and GH¢14.74 per liter, respectively. These changes were put into effect by GOIL on April 4, 2024.

Speaking with Daakyehene Ofosu Agyemang on Friday’s Adinkra Radio Morning program from New York, Sampson Addae attributed the rise in fuel costs in part to TOR’s eight-year non-operationalization.

“We could have had relatively cheaper fuel prices if we were refining our own fuel at TOR. It was wrong to have allowed the establishment of a private oil refinery in Ghana when we as a country have supervised the collapse of TOR. This is because no Ghanaian can go to China and set up a refinery there. Because what this does is that it brings competition. We know that Burkina Faso refines its oil here in Ghana and TOR makes some revenue. Now that we’ve allowed Sentuo refinery, they will give competition to TOR if it were working by beating down prices thereby denying the country the full amount it would have made from refining oil for other neighbouring countries. The money the Chinese will get will be taken out of the country thereby weakening the Cedi.

“If TOR were to be working, we would have gotten a lot of by-products from refining oil. We would have had bitumen to fix our bad roads across the country. Now that TOR is not working, if we have need bitumen as a state, it will be sold to us by Sentuo Refinery, they will sell other by-products including plastic materials to us, dirty oil and other products for industries will be sold to us. If TOR were operating, there will be more jobs and we’ll have increase in GDP,” Sampson Addae stated.