NAPO: Support BOST to manage its resources efficiently

The Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh has appealed to industry players to support the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company Limited to enable it to become efficient in managing its resources.

According to the minister, BOST must be given all the backing to ensure the company has the capacity it requires to provide petroleum products for the country in times of crisis.

Dr Prempeh said, “When it becomes critical like now, we’re all running to BOST; if there’s a company that’s supporting fuel availability in the system now, it is BOST. But in times of plenty, everybody turns against BOST; ‘why are you collecting BOST levy, why are you collecting BOST margin.’ BOST is our security as a country and it needs to provide more storage such that we get six weeks of strategic stocks.

“What I mean by six weeks of strategic stocks is that the government doesn’t have the money to go and buy and store what we’ll use for six weeks. But if BOST has depots that can put in six weeks of strategic stocks from private people then, in times of crisis, the government can have the first stake in those fuels even though we have to pay, because you can have the money and there’s no fuel.”

Call of support
“But if we can implement the BOST strategic stocks, then if we have the money, there’ll be available fuel. So, we all have to realise that it is our collective interest to support BOST to become more efficient and more profitable in managing its resources for the betterment of all of us,” Prempeh said at a recent media briefing in Accra.

BOST to transform the petroleum sector
In February this year, BOST said it will spend almost GHC200 million on a number of projects to help transform the petroleum sector.

The investment, which will start with the procurement process is also to bring greater efficiency to the transportation of petroleum products within the country and for export.

The projects will include the automation and upgrade of all the company’s depots to bring them up to modern standards to deliver improved efficiency.

The six depots are located in Tema in the Greater Accra Region, Buipe in the Gonja District in the Savanna Region, Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, and Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital.

The rest are in Akosombo and the famous Maame Water Depot at Adome, both in the Eastern Region.