(Deputy Energy Minister, Mr Armah Kofi Buah (middle) with Mr Ato Ampiah (left), Managing Director of TOR and Dr Yaw Akoto (right), MD of BOST arriving at one of the storage depot's during the tour)
THE Ministry of Energy is in discussion with the Ministry of Finance on the need to build a six-arm additional Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) loading gantry at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to complement the two existing ones as part of the short-term strategies to address the frequent shortage of the commodity.
As part of the project, five additional storage tanks would be constructed to create a buffer stock and an eight-inch pipeline laid to improve the pump rate of the product from the oil jetty to the loading bays.
The existing gantries can load up to 50 trucks per day while the current six-inch pipeline in use pumps between 50-60 tonnes of LPG per hour, a situation TOR officials described as worrying, hence the need to have an expanded pipeline in place to address the challenge.
Similarly, the officials have also submitted proposals to the Cabinet for a review of subsidies on LPG by users across the board to slow the strain on demand, particularly on the part of commercial users .
The review, the officials say, will ensure that windfall prices are removed as part of strategies to stabilise the market, as the government’s annual subsidy on the commodity, according to officials, stands at GH¢150 million, with monthly subsidy alone standing at some GH¢12.5 million.
The Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, disclosed this when he toured the construction site of a multi-million dollar LPG storage facility at the Kpone Industrial Area in Tema.
The structure, belonging to FuelTrade Limited, a bulk distributor of refined petroleum products, and being constructed at $50 million, when completed, can store up to 4,000 tonnes of the commodity.
He was accompanied by Mr Alex Mould, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Yaw Akoto of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), Mr Ato Ampiah, Managing Director of TOR, and some officials of the ministry.
According to officials of FuelTrade, civil works on the facility are about 70 per cent complete toward their March 2012 completion deadline.
The visit by the minister was as a result of the perennial shortage of LPG, which has resulted in consumers forming long winding queues at the various distribution outlets across the country.
It was also to afford the delegation the opportunity to inspect existing storage infrastructure and to discuss ways of improving upon them.
He also inspected works on a 1,500-tonne storage facility being put up by the TOR and the only oil jetty at the Tema Port.
He indicated that as part of the medium-term goals, work on a temporary badge in Takoradi was expected to begin in the next six months.
Mr Buah blamed inadequate infrastructure for the problem and commended officials of FuelTrade, expressing optimism that the project would increase the country’s current national storage capacity from some 6,300 tonnes to about 11,700 to ease the pressure on the government.
He stated that 40,000 tonnes of the commodity was consumed in 2001 but the figure had been increasing, and was expected to reach about 248,000 by the end of the year.
Mr Ampiah said the 1,500-tonne capacity project being undertaken by the refinery would also provide some respite when completed in the next seven months.
Meanwhile, a consignment of 4,000 tonnes of LPG imported by FuelTrade has arrived at the Tema Port and is expected to be on the market by Thursday after a successful delivery.
Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Aug 18, 2011
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