The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association of Ghana is warning of a possible shortage of gas on the market starting next week. This is due to the current state of LPG reserves in the country and challenges with new rules announced by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for importing gas. The association is also projecting price hikes due to current developments in the international market. Speaking to Joy Business, Vice President of the association Gabriel Kumi revealed that the current stock of LPG cannot last beyond a week.
“There is a lot of shortage in the system. This 10,000mt that has come in will be exhausted by the end of the week. If measures are not taken to bring in another vessel of gas by next week, we shall be in a very serious shortage situation”, he warned. He added that the situation is looking good due to fluctuations in prices of the product on the international market. He disclosed that the Atuabo Gas Plant is currently unable to meet the demand from the association forcing LPG marketers to rely on foreign imports.
Unfortunately, Atuabo which supplies about 45 to 50 percent of our national needs hasn’t been performing well. For the past one month, we are not getting supplies from Atuabo. We are solely depending on imports. We believe that the only way to avert the shortage is for the NPA to tell the BDCs to bring in the products as quickly as possible so that we can serve the general public”, he suggested.
Mr. Kumi pointed out that the situation can be resolved by the NPA and gas supply improves if the NPA responds to recommendations put forward by LPG marketers. On September 26, parts of the country were hit by a shortage of LPG.
The LPG Marketers Association of Ghana warned that the situation could get dire if supplies from the Bulk Oil Distributors do not improve soon. “If this problem is not resolved today, then it means going into the weekend, we are likely to have serious shortage issues. About 60 to 70 percent of us have run out of LPG”, Vice President of the association, Gabriel Kumi told Joy Business at the time.
He disclosed that the few stations with LPG were under pressure due to the situation. “This is putting a lot of pressure on the 40 to 30 percent that have the product. If we don’t get the supplies from the BDCs, then by close of tomorrow Friday, September 27, the whole system will be dried up”, he cautioned again.
TOR assures of resolving the issues
At the same time, the Tema Oil Refinery assured that the challenges have been resolved. According to TOR, the situation occurred due to initial challenges with the BDCs. “We expect supplies to improve very soon for the situation to be normalised” a source at TOR told Joy Business.
Source: Joy Business
