NPA Quells Fears Of Fuel Shortage

Communications Manager for the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mohammed Abdul-Kudus, has dismissed rumours of an imminent fuel shortage in the country.

According to him, the country has enough quantity of petroleum products in storage to sustain the demand of consumers till the next delivery of fuel happens.

His statement follows concerns from civil society organisations of an imminent fuel shortage should the cedi continue to free fall against the dollar amid a dollar scarcity in the country.

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Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Mohammed Abdul-Kudus said, “For now there hasn’t been any information available to me about any possible shortage of petroleum products.

“What I know and the visibility that I have mostly has to do with the available quantity of petroleum products that we have at a particular given point in time and how long it will actually be around to be able to sustain the demand that we will be having as a country.

“And what I’ve seen as at today, this morning, there hasn’t been any eminence of a shortage in the future. What I have is that we have enough in our stock to be able to take us before the next line of laycan is allowed to deliver fuel.”

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The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has been warning of an imminent shortage of petroleum products across the country.

According to the energy think tank, the free fall of the cedi, which is causing a scarcity of dollars and the erosion of some working capital of the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies is what will trigger the shortage.

Executive Director of IES, Nana Amoasi VII told Joy Business on October 18, 2022, that Ghanaians should be worried about this development.

“There is something to be much worried about and that’s the likelihood of the shortage of the commodity on the market on the back of a reported shortage of dollars for the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies, the importers and the erosion of working capital of some of these importers. The price of crude oil remains high and the cedi value continues to decline”.

“We first raised these concerns in March this year and in the following month there were reports of the pocket of shortages of fuel across the country”, he explained.

Furthermore, Nana Amoasi VII warned that if the authorities fail to plan well, any incident of fuel shortage will be widespread.

“This time around, any incident of shortage may be widespread if we fail to plan against it. It is more serious”.