The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has attributed the current shortage of diesel across the country to a hold on stocks by banks providing lines of credit to Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs). The hold on the products stems from government’s indebtedness of a disputed amount of 1.35billion cedis to the BDCs. Public Relations Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, Yaro Kasambata speaking to citi Business News said “the BDCs and the banks still have liquidity challenges {....}

An audit of GH¢1.8 billion claims submitted by the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) has stalled because the local banks that finance the BDCs are not co-operating. Ernst and Young, an audit firm, was contracted by the Ministry of Finance in the second week of June 2014 to audit the claims of the BDCs before payment. The government, on June 27, 2014, released GH¢450 million to cover part of its indebtedness to the BDCs, while it awaited the final audit report to settle the balance. {....}

A Greek Oil vessel, MT Fair Artemis, hijacked by pirates off Ghana’s waters in June this year has finally berthed at the Takoradi Port to offload oil. This is according to the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Mr. Richard Anamoo. The pirates are said to have siphoned 3,500 metric tonnes of crude oil from the vessel into another vessel and voyaged to Benin for sale but luck run out on them and were arrested by the security agencies in that country. Mr. Anamoo {....}

An imminent shortage of fuel is expected to hit pump stations belonging to Total Petroleum company as their tanker drivers continue an indefinite strike. The drivers are protesting the use of an electronic seal, a devise used to seal cargo after they have been loaded. Secretary of the Tanker Drivers Union, William Adarkwa told Citi Business News, the drivers fear the electronic seals could spark fire which will endanger their lives in the course of duty. “We are not experts. But the little that we know {....}

The Atuabo Gas Processing Plant has finally been completed after the successful hydro-testing of the pipelines from offshore to the facility last Monday. The facility, which has the capacity to generate about 140 million standard cubic feet of natural gas a day, is estimated to save the country more than $500 million annually when it is substituted for light crude oil in the generation of power. In addition, it will produce more than 70 per cent of the estimated 240,000 tonnes of liquefied {....}

The ongoing Takoradi Port Expansion Project has already started attracting investments into the Port’s Oil & Gas enclave as the Ghana Ports & Harbors Authority(GPHA) works to position the Takoradi Port as a major maritime services support hub along the west coast of Africa. COX OIL, a Texas based oil and gas company has announced plans to build a $600 million state of the art oil refinery plant at the Takoradi Port area. The project would come with the associated infrastructure required the {....}

East African oil and gas discoveries are poised to fundamentally transform the economies of the region as the fuel resources usher in new investment in road, rail, power and industrial infrastructure, according to Standard Bank. Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Mozambique have emerged as one of the most prolific oil and gas exploration regions in the world over the last 10 years, says Mr Simon Ashby-Rudd, the London-based global head of oil and gas at Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest {....}

In the wake of the presidency’s recent announcement that it was undertaking a critical review of the official approval procedures that enabled the National Petroleum Authority to spend a colossal US$ 63, 000 monthly on the payment of office rent, similar reports of misuse of public funds by some state agencies may be making their way to the desk of Chief of Staff at the presidency soon. The General Telegraph can reveal that the Board of the Ghana National Gas Company spent a whopping Ghc148,000 [...]

The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Horsi has assured Ghanaians the fuel situation will normalize by the end of July. The shortage which hit the country about a week ago came in the wake of threats by the Bulk Oil Distributors (BDCs) of an imminent fuel shortage in the country. Senyo Horsi revealed “there is stock available on the market, on the shores of Ghana; but it is just that it is on a financial hold. You pay you get financial access to [...]”

The Minister Energy and Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has directed the Tema Oil refinery (TOR), to revert to its core mandate of refining crude oil to meet current demands. TOR, a state owned oil refinery has over the years been saddled with debts, and operational inefficiencies leading to low production capacity. Speaking at the inauguration of its new board, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah directed members to get the defunct refinery [...]