Page 12 - DMEA Week 45 2021

DMEA FUELS DMEA

NPA reduces contaminated fuels

AFRICA THE National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has fuel quality crimes,” Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid
reduced contaminated fuel from 32% to 2.51%, said.
saying that this happened as a result of stringent He however, cautioned PSPs not to engage in
measures the authority instituted. fuel adulteration as that deprives consumers of
This reduction spans between 2013 to August value for money while also causing damage to
this year, the Chief Executive of the authority, Dr engines of vehicles and machines.
Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has revealed He also warned that increased emission of
The NPA boss made this statement while harmful compounds like Carbon dioxide, vol-
addressing stakeholders at this year’s Consumer atile organic compounds affect air quality and
Week Celebration which was held under the the environment, adding that the effects go to
theme: Adulterated Fuels: A menace to the con- affect the workforce, harms the reputation of a
sumer and the economy,” which was held at Ho, fuel retailer’s brand while costing government
the capital city of the Volta region of Ghana. millions of Ghana cedis in revenue.
Some of the key strategies that the authority In a related development, Dr Mustapha
adopted in fighting fuel crimes include revi- Abdul-Hamid has also disclosed that there are
sion of operating procedures in the importa- illicit fuel trade activities that are high at the
tion, exportation, and production of fuels by Aflao border with Togo.
Petroleum Service Providers (PSPs) and the He made this statement when he led man-
introduction of Petroleum Product Marketing agement of the authority to tour the border to
Scheme (PPMS) as well as the Bulk Road Vehicle familiarise himself with such illegal activities on
(BRV) tracking system to ensure that petroleum the Aflao border in the Volta region.
products are devoid of adulteration and meet the This comes amidst reports of gold smuggling
required specification along the supply chain. by small scale miners leading to a decline in gold
He added that his outfit is poised at wiping output.
out the rest of the 2.51% culprits. The NPA boss said his outfit has not licensed
“We are poised to wipe out these 2.51% cul- any importer to bring fuel through the border
prits still cheating petroleum consumers. This is and also urged the border officers to stop the
why we are here today, to tell consumers to report importation of petroleum products by road,
to the NPA anytime there is suspicion of the pur- adding that combatting fuel smuggling is still a
chase of contaminated fuel. There are laws that menace that denies the government of revenue.
provide punitive sanctions such as fines, impris- The NPA was established in 2005 to regulate
onment, or both for the perpetrators of these the petroleum downstream industry in Ghana.™

Savannah makes first gas deliveries to Afam

AFRICA SAVANNAH Energy, a UK-based independent milestone for Accugas and Savannah and the
energy company that is active in Nigeria and achievement of a key performance goal for 2021.
Niger, says its Accugas subsidiary has started This marks our entry into the high-growth Port
selling natural gas to FIPL Afam, a thermal Harcourt Industrial area. We look forward to
power plant (TPP) owned by First Independent developing our relationship further with FIPL
Power Ltd (FIPL) of Nigeria. The firm made an over the coming months and are excited to con-
announcement to this effect last week, saying in tinue our role as the gas supplier of choice to the
a statement that it was upholding the terms of an Nigeria power sector.
agreement concluded with FIPL in early 2020. FIPL is an affiliate of Sahara Group, a Nige-
The deal was the first new gas sales agreement ria-based energy and infrastructure conglomer-
that Savannah has signed within the last five ate with operations in over 42 countries across
years, the statement reported. Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Kola
Accugas is using a newly constructed pipeline Adesina, the managing director of Sahara’s
to send gas to FIPL Afam, which has a generating power division, said last week that he expected
capacity of 180 MW, the company said. It noted the gas supply agreement to benefit both sides.
that its subsidiary was slated to deliver 25mn “In order to bring energy to life, we at Sahara,
cubic feet (708,000 cubic metres) per day of gas through our diversified power assets, continue
during the first week of operations and added to seek partnerships that enhance our cus-
that the maximum volume of shipments would tomer experience and quality of life by ensur-
be 35 mcf (991,100 cubic metres) per day. ing the health of the electricity value chain,” he
Savannah’s CEO Andrew Knott commented: remarked. “We believe with Savannah, we have
“First gas sales to FIPL Afam represents a great a partnership that works.”™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 45 11•November•2021