Page 11 - DMEA Week 38 2022

DMEA REFINING & FUELS DMEA

“ARIA’s new plants will be eco-friendly. Not he commented.
only will the four plants improve the optimum Bhadlawala also talked up the environmental
use of natural resources, but they will also help angle of the project, saying: “We aim to create
reduce industrial waste and extend the life cycle a safer environment globally by introducing
of materials and products by adopting environ- environmentally friendly, renewable products
mentally friendly measures,” he said supporting the circular economy, which will be
The plants are expected to complement used in the road paving industry. The refinery
ARIA Commodities’ existing operations in the will support green fuel for vehicles and bunkers
realm of asphalt and distillate fuels and storage complying with IMO 2020 [the stricter emis-
infrastructure development, said Mirat Bhad- sions standards introduced by the International
lawala, CEO for the energy business and chief Maritime Organisation in 2020]. Our plants
optimisation officer of ARIA Group. He stated will cater to projects spanning from diversified
that the new facilities would make HFZA a one- terrain roads to high-intensity surfaces such as
stop shop for these goods and services while airport runways.”
extending access to global oil, gas and bunker ARIA Commodities also announced at
fuel markets. the signing ceremony that it intended to lease
“The free zone is strategically located as an another three plots of land at HFZA.
oil zone with multi-dimensional infrastructure This move will bring the total number of
catering to the UAE holistically, with the north plots the company is leasing within the zone
and south within an equidistant reach and the up to five, while lifting the total combined area
port infrastructure helping us not just to serve under its control up to 540,000 square feet
the UAE but also spread our wings to the world,” (50,170 square metres). ™

Advocacy group urges Ghana to scrap

“BOST margin” as pump prices keep rising

AFRICA A Ghanaian advocacy group, the Chamber of he says that the margin [should] not be taken
Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), is lobbying off bearing in mind the very fact that the pri-
for the government to scrap a tax on petroleum vate BDCs [Business Development Companies]
products used to cover the maintenance and also have depots where products are stored, and
operating cost of depots. they do not get any margin but operate leanly,”
The call by COPEC executive secretary Dun- Amoah said, as quoted by CitiNews. “So per-
can Amoah to cancel the tax on Bulk Oil Stor- haps this conversation must be had in a broader
age and Transportation Company Ltd (BOST) manner.”
comes as pump prices continue to rise in Ghana, The BOST margin was implemented on the
despite the drop in global crude oil prices, due price build-up in 2011 at GHS0.03 ($0.003) per
to the steady depreciation of the local currency, litre to cover the maintenance and expansion
the cedi. However, Energy Minister Matthew of infrastructure, and increased to GHS0.06
Opoku Prempeh says the BOST margin, cur- ($0.0059) per litre in 2019, further increasing to
rently set at GHS0.09 ($0.0089) per litre, is likely GHS0.09 per litre in 2021 after several demands
to remain in place due to the company’s effective by the state company. Ghana’s petroleum price
utilisation of the proceeds, CitiNews reported. is unregulated; hence, global factors determine
“I can promise that the BOST margin on price direction. Meanwhile, taxes and levies
petroleum products is not being taken off any- account for almost half of the final ex-pump
time soon. We will use the BOST margin effi- price of fuel. ™
ciently and effectively to protect the citizens of
this country against the vagaries of private sector
interest, which has always been about profit,” he
said at BOST’s annual general meeting on Sep-
tember 14.
COPEC’s executive secretary argues that
if BOST sticks to its original mandate, which
includes developing a network of storage tanks,
pipelines and other bulk transportation infra-
structure, and leasing out part of it, there is no
need for maintaining the BOST margin in the
petroleum price build-up.
“I totally disagree with the minister when

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