Implementation of the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) by National Petroleum Commission (NPA) will ensure that at least 50 percent of Ghanaians have access to safe, clean and environmentally-friendly Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 2030.

Chief Executive Office of the NPA, Hassan Tampuli, announced this at a stakeholder engagement on cylinder recirculation policy at Tamale in the Northern Region.

He said successful implementation of the policy will help curb rapid deforestation arising from reliance on wood fuel or firewood, which is fast depleting the national forest cover. It will also ensure the availability of robust and standard health, safety and environmental practices in the production, marketing and consumption of LPG in the country.

He stressed that over the years, the Ghana petroleum downstream industry has witnessed a number of unfortunate accidents as a result of the misuse and inappropriate handling of petroleum products – especially LPG, hence the campaign.

According to him, the policy when implemented, will help develop a market-driven structure to ensure safety, increase access and adoption of LPG, enhance the capacity of existing regulatory institutions in order to enforce the regulatory requirements of the new market structure, and ensure the existence of robust and standard Health, Safety and Environmental practices in the production, marketing and consumption of LPG.

Available data show that in 2018 the country consumed 288,328,785 kilogrammes of LPG. Of this, the Northern Region accounted for four percent, with only one percent attributed to the Upper East Region.

This, according to the NPA, shows there is more room for LPG usage in northern parts of the country.

Themed ‘CRM: Securing our safety, creating more jobs’, the stakeholder meeting was aimed at educating the public on the policy and brought together various stakeholders.

The Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) is the implementation model for the National LPG Policy, and it is aimed at providing direction for marketing and distribution of LPG in a safe and efficient manner, so as to facilitate an increase in access to LPG nationwide.

Vice Chairman of LPG Marketers Association, Gabriel Kumi, was confident that the initiative will help create more jobs for the youth.

He said massive awareness creation will continue being spread to educate rural dwellers, especially, on the benefit of using LPG.

–
Source: B&FT

“We will officially request to meet the ministry, request to meet government, request to meet the energy ministry and attempt some dialogue. If, however, all these fail then clearly, we will have to resort to what we have done all over the period; a protest. A legitimate protest.”

The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah has said in full preparedness to argue for the scrapping of the increase in the Energy Sector Levies (ESLA).

The Chamber earlier announced that its members will protest at the Finance Ministry to ensure the new levy is scrapped if dialogue fails.

The government announced the introduction of the levy in the 2019 mid-year budget review to enable it raise more revenue to defray the energy sector legacy debt.

But Duncan Amoah again says his outfit will do everything possible to get the decision reversed.

The mid-year budget review and subsequent Parliamentary approval saw an upward adjustment in the Road Fund Levy (RFL), the Energy Debt Recovery Levy (EDRL) and the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL).

As a result, drivers and transport union members have been agitating for an increment in transport fares because of the expected fuel price increase.

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has, however, urged its members to remain calm as it works with the Ministry of Transport and other stakeholders to reach an agreement on a possible increment in transport fares.

Transport fares were last increased by the GPRTU in April 2017 by 15 percent.

—citinewsroom

The Ghana Energy Awards (GEA) has opened nominations for the third edition of the national Energy Awards under the theme “Energy, the Key to a Sustainable Economy for Industrialisation,” in Accra.

Dr Lawrence Tetteh, world renowned Evangelist, officially declared nominations open for the 2019 Ghana Energy Awards. The Awards Scheme broadly aims to recognise the accomplishments of various entities and individuals within the country’s energy sector, while also acknowledging the values and morals that these corporations and personalities possess to meet their targets.

Henry Teinor, Organiser of the GEA, said as part of activities to mark this year’s awards, there will be the Energy Personality outreach programme, a courtesy call on veterans in the industry, exhibition at the 5th Ghana Renewable Energy Fair and a visit by the GEA team to CSR project sites of nominees.
The Ghana Energy Awards is fully endorsed by the Ministry of Energy and its agencies as well as the World Energy Council (Ghana).

Nominations

Nominations for this year’s awards can be filed on the awards website www.ghanaenergywards.com or via the email info@ghanaenergyawards.com. Nominations will be closed on 25th October, 2019 and will be published one month prior to the awards ceremony via the awards website and press release. Validation of results will be done by MAZARS. Meanwhile, recipients of the awards won’t be declared or notified before the awards night.

Jury

Award winners will be selected by an independent panel of judges through a judging process that is solely based on the expertise of an impartial panel of international energy experts whose background and experience include regulation, policy making, corporate leadership, trading and strategic consulting.

Nominees will be evaluated according to specific criteria established for the categories. All relevant information on the nominees are submitted, considered and evaluated by the panel. Awarding Panel members include Dr Kwame Ampofo, former Chairman of the Energy Commission and currently the Chairman of the panel, Lawyer Kwame Jantuah, an Energy Consultant, Dr Jemima Nunoo, Director (Centre of Management Development), Prof. Felix Asante, Director (ISSER) and Dr Lawrence Tetteh, world-renowned Evangelist.

Categories

The GEA 2019 will feature several awards, prominent of which are the apex awards, that is the Energy Personality of the Year (male and female categories), CEO of the Year, Industry Leadership Awards, Energy Business Leadership Award, Energy Company of the Year, Emerging Energy Company of the Year, Energy Institution of the Year and the Rising Star Award as well as the Best Energy Reporter of the Year.

The launch

Dr Ampofo, the Awarding panel Chairman, noted that it was the continuous support and involvement of stakeholders to make the awards realise its objective that had brought the scheme thus far, adding that it has been the policy of the Ghana Energy Awards panel team that every year must be better than the previous year, especially in terms of the quality of what people bring out which leads to more competition for national growth and development.
Nicholas Frimpong-Manso, co-organiser of the Awards, thanked the panel and all stakeholders for their staunch support toward the awards.

Ghana Energy Awards 2019 is slated for Friday the 29th of November, 2019 at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra.

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has petitioned the Speaker of Parliament over the proposed increase in components of the Energy Sector Levies (ESLA) which will lead to increase fuel prices.

COPEC in its petition said the “current fuel price increase is coming at the wrong time.”

The mid-year budget reviews saw an upward adjustment in the Road Fund Levy (RFL), the Energy Debt Recovery Levy (EDRL) and the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL).

“This eventually shall lead to an increase in the current fuel price by about four percent,” COPEC surmised.

The petition outline’s a series of cautions with COPEC highlighting the effect fuel price increases could have on lives of Ghanaians.

“It shall affect every aspect of the economy and could bring serious challenges to the standard of living of persons and their purchasing ability. This shall increase the cost of living of the ordinary Ghanaian, through increased transportation cost to vehicle owners and users.”

COPEC also insisted that the “ordinary consumer in the energy sector would be worse off and should not be made to pay for recurring debt ostensibly created by inefficiencies of the state-owned enterprises.”

[TUBE]https://www.youtube.com/embed/KwodEQfcxPM[/TUBE]

In addition to the economic concerns, COPEC noted the toll the increase in fuel prices could have on the environment.

“As a country committed to curbing the menace of climate change, COPEC is of the opinion that, when the LPG price increases, people will be demotivated in attempt to move from non-environmentally friendly fuels to LPG, hence derailing the aim of government’s LPG penetration target.”

COPEC believes that government can source for alternative means of revenue generation “including employing prudent measures to check perennial leakages in the energy sector where the state loses over GH¢1.6 billion yearly to fuel smuggling.”

It also suggested the revamping and equipping State-Owned Enterprises like TOR to make the “more productive and profitable.”

COPEC’s Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah has already indicated that it will protest the increase in the ESLA levies if attempts at dialogue are unsuccessful.

“We will resort to some initial dialogue to ensure that whatever he [the Finance Minister] is proposing. Either Members of Parliament will reject it or not allow it to materialise. But if they still insist or push forward, we will not go on a demonstration, we will go on a sleepover,” he told Citi News earlier.

—citinewsroom

The Chief Executive Officer of the Springfield Group, Kevin Okyere has been honoured with two prestigious awards.

The first, Entrepreneurship Award, also known as the Impact to Business Award from Face 2 Face Africa, a New York-based Pan- African and Technology Company, took place at a ceremony on Saturday, July 20th in the United States.

The second, the 2019 RIG AWARD (Man of the Year- Oil and Gas) was presented to him at the Exclusive Men of the Year Africa Awards three weeks earlier in Accra, for contributing towards the development of the upstream sector in Africa and Ghana.

He received a plaque, a trophy and citations on both occasions.

The Face2Face awards is a prestigious celebration of pan-African achievement established to recognize the icons and heroes who have made significant contributions towards the progress, development and transformation of the pan-African Community.

A citation accompanying the award read: Mr. Okyere, your extraordinary achievements and impact as a business leader have inspired a generation both in Africa and around the globe. You have demonstrated through your exemplary career that vision, commitment and dedication triumph overall.

We wish to celebrate your journey and highlight your momentous impact within the pan-African business community.

Speaking at the forum in New York, Mr. Okyere called on successful African business leaders to share their stories on how they managed to overcome challenges in the African terrain in order to inspire the youth and people who have the ambition to become entrepreneurs.

He said he decided to share his experience because there are not many inspiring successful business stories being told to encourage and motivate others to do what they believed in.

“Very often what is projected are Africans who have been successful in entertainment and sports which is good. But it is important to also share the stories of Black people who have been able to build thriving successful companies to inspire the youth across the continent and beyond”.

At the EMY Africa awards, Mr. Okyere said Springfield’s primary aim in business was to make sure that it invests back into communities because it believes that businesses can operate successfully only in thriving and progressing communities.

He invited other business leaders, particularly those in the extractive sector to formulate policies that would ensure the investment of a fair share of their returns in communities to enhance the living standards of the true owners of the natural resources.

On both occasions, he thanked the organizers for recognizing what he and his team were doing to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians and people on the continent generally.

https://cdn.ghanaweb.net/imagelib/pics/94882438.jpg

—Ghanaweb

The energy sector, whose inherent financial and technical inefficiencies affect every facet of the economy and millions of lives, is next in line for a major clean-up after a similar exercise undertaken in the banking sector over the last two years, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said.

Fresh from an expensive banking sector clean-up that cost the taxpayer some GH¢12.1billion, renegotiation of take-or-pay energy contracts and streamlining excess capacity for power production and excess gas supply, is expected to save government close to GH¢3billion annually.

The Energy Commission estimates that there is currently about 2,300MW of excess installed capacity for power generation and 400MSCF of expensive excess gas supplied annually.

This means payment for unused power and gas constitute a major drain on the revenue envelope, and results in an elevated end-user tariff for industries and individual homes. This increases the cost of production for industry and the cost of living for households.

“There is no doubt that the situation in the energy sector is shocking the economy. We are in a state of emergency and must therefore respond with urgency and boldness. We shall from August 1^st 2019, with the support of Parliament, make Take-or-pay contracts a beast of the past,” Mr. Ofori-Atta told Parliament when he presented the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review of the 2019 Budget Statement and Economic Policy & Supplementary Estimates of the government of Ghana.

He noted that: “Currently, according to the Energy Commission, our installed capacity of 5,083MW is almost double our peak demand of around 2,700MW. Notably, 2,300MW of the installed capacity has been contracted on a take-or-pay basis.

“This means that we are contractually obliged to throw away money for this excess capacity that we do not consume. This has resulted in us paying over half a billion U.S. dollars, or over GH¢2.5billion, annually for power generation capacity that we do not need.”

On the side of gas as a commodity, the country has contracted about 750 mmscf per day by 2023. This is after government terminated two other LNG contracts in 2017.

“Current demand is around 250 mmscf per day, and this is projected to rise to between 450 and 550 mmscf per day by 2023. About 640 mmscf of the contracted gas supply is on a take-or-pay basis, meaning we have to pay whether we use it or not.

“From 2020, if nothing is done, we will be facing annual excess gas capacity charges of between US$550 and US$850million every year. Thankfully, we have a plan to deal with this,” Ofori-Atta said.

Presently, for Sankofa Offshore Cape Three Points gas alone, government pays over US$51million per month under a take-or-pay contract for 154 mmscf per day – even though only 60 mmscf per day on average is taken for power production.

—B&FT

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) says it intends to protest the increase in the Energy Sector Levies (ESLA) which will increase fuel prices.

During the mid-year budget review, the Finance Minister said the government had to turn to the ESLA to raise more funds to settle legacy debts inherited from the previous government.

COPEC’s Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah said the chamber will try to engage MPs before opting for the protest.

Ahead of the budget review, he said he didn’t expect the government to have “increased fuel prices by increasing taxes further.”

“We will resort to some initial dialogue to ensure that whatever he [the Finance Minister] is proposing. Either Members of Parliament will reject it or not allow it to materialise. But if they still insist or push forward, we will not go on a demonstration, we will go on a sleepover.”

Mr. Amoah urged some empathy for drivers he said are already struggling with current fuel prices.

“I know teachers, I know lectures who complain of the high the incidences of fuel prices in the country. I know journalists who meet you and tell you they have packed their vehicles already because they can’t afford to be fueling.”

The Government is proposing to increase the ESLA by GHc 0.20 per litre for petrol and diesel and GHc 0.8 per kg for LPG.

Based on current indicative prices for petrol and diesel this will translate to GHc 0.90 per gallon,” he said.

The Government in 2017 issued the ESLA Bond, which has, to date, raised almost GHc 6 billion on the back of ESLA levies to pay for legacy debts from the previous government.

The bond’s proceeds were used to liquidate approximately 60% of the energy sector legacy debts.

[TUBE]https://www.youtube.com/embed/gG23QX5UBAk[/TUBE]

Parliament will later today commence the debate on the mid-year budget review and supplementary estimates.

Ghana’s economy is now expected to grow slower than was originally projected in 2019.

The Finance Minister had said the economy would grow by 7.6 percent but on Monday when he presented the 2019 mid-year budget, he said a number of factors have conspired to slow the pace of the economy’s growth.

The economy is now expected to grow at 7.1 percent because of pressures from the poor performance of the local currency against the dollar as well and poor domestic revenue mobilisation.

—citinewsroom

Some tanker drivers on Monday, threatened to stop lifting petroleum products from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) if management does not fix its deplorable parking space.

The drivers, who park their gas and oil tankers at the TOR tanker park did not load for hours even when some of their leaders informed them about the refinery’s preparations to work on the park.

According to them, the clayey park and passage to the loading gantry which is about two kilometers, has deep gullies with stones sticking out which become very slippery whenever it rained.

Mr George Nyaunu, Chairman of the National Ghana Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union, told the media that the nature of the park made it difficult for them to commute smoothly to the gantry, a situation he described as very risky.

Mr Nyuanu explained that even though the tankers park and drove to the gantry empty, it could explode when the master pin detaches and causes it to topple over in the process of keeping sturdy on the slippery galley riddled park.

He noted that authorizes must not wait for such an incident to occur before responding to their needs, stressing that any explosion from a tanker due to the deplorable nature of the park could jeopardize the entire refinery.

He indicated that their action was not politically motivated therefore government should see it as an opportunity to fix the park for the general good instead of painting them in other party colours.

According to him, they had written several letters to management of TOR but were yet to get favourable response hence their action, adding that their last letter to TOR was on July 2, 2019, giving them “a seven-day ultimatum to find an amicable solution to the problem. Failure to adhere to this letter, the drivers will advise themselves”.

Mr Shafiu Mohammed, Chairman of the Gas Tanker Drivers Union, on his part, questioned why there were no sheds for waiting drivers adding that drivers did even have a place of convenience.

Mr Mohammed added that it was disheartening for them to be treated without dignity as they had to hide in their tankers whenever it rained.

Mr Moses Kwaku Otoo, an officer of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), the mother union of the drivers, appealed to management of TOR to urgently shape the park and provide the needed amenities to ensure the safety of drivers, trucks and the refinery.

Meanwhile, Dr Kingsley Antwi-Boasiako, Public Affairs Manager of TOR, told the Ghana News Agency that his outfit shared the plight of the drivers and had been interacting with them on the best way to repair the park and the road.

Dr Antwi-Boasiako added that TOR was committed to a safe and smooth transportation of petroleum products from the Refinery.

He indicated that they were currently mobilizing logistics including trucks and bulldozers to begin work on the park and the road leading to the gantry.

—citinewsroom

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is to begin a pilot system of the cylinder recirculation model in two districts of the Eastern Region with public sensitization and community engagements.

According to the NPA, the model will be a major game-changer in minimizing and possibly eliminating gas explosions in the country.

It will be piloted in the Denkyembour and Kwaebibirim Districts in the Region.

In October 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo after a cabinet meeting directed the Ministry of Energy and the National Petroleum Authority to roll out the Cylinder recirculation model following series of fatal gas explosions in some parts of the country.

After series of engagements and meetings with stakeholders including members on Mines and Energy Committee in Parliament, Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, LPG Marketing Companies, Tanker Drivers Union, Ministry of Energy, Imani Ghana, Fire Service, Environmental Protection Agency and the NPA, government is set to roll out the policy.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Alhassan Tampuli who led a team to pay a courtesy call on the chiefs and people of Akwatia and Kwaebibirim as part of the sensitization campaigns said an intensive public education will be carried out before the model is rolled out.

“The engagement of the committee has been very fruitful and we have come up with a new license which will be added to the existing one which is the cylinder bottling plant license. The bottling plant is where all the cylinders will be sent to and filled with a machine called carousel which has the capacity to fill over 1000 cylinders within an hour”.

“Very soon we will roll out a massive public sensitization on various media outlets and information centers where we will come out to inform the public on how to go about this. Also we will engage communities during durbar’s any time we are called upon or invitations are extended to us. We know, when you are beginning a new policy there are possible challenges you will be confronted with, but we want the people of Denkyembour, Kwaebibirim and the whole nation to support us throughout for this policy to succeed”, he added.

On their part, the Chiefs of Akwatia and Kade who were happy with the gesture and having to be the first districts waiting to write history with the piloting of the cylinder recirculation model promised to encourage residents to embrace the policy for it to succeed and avoid gas-related disasters.

Source: Citinewsroom

Retailers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), are calling on Akufo-Addo’s government to scrap the 23 percent tax levied on the fuel product.

The LPG Marketing Association of Ghana wants the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, to take advantage of next week’s mid-year budget review, to bring relief to Ghanaians.

“We note with grave concern that the product which used to be subsidised, has its price build-up being constituted of more than 23% taxes now.

“For example, in 2015 a typical 14.5kg LPG cylinder cost about ¢48 and a bag of charcoal then was also ¢40 whilst a bag of charcoal is now ¢45 the same 14.5kg LPG cost ¢80,” Secretary of the Association, Justice Adu Mante, said in a statement issued Thursday.

Below is a copy of the full statement:

Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta is due to present the Mid-year budget review to Parliament on Monday with millions of Ghanaians hopeful government will present a programme that brings relief to them.

Government now has a unique opportunity to demonstrate it is sensitive to the plight of Ghanaians by scrapping the 23 percent tax imposed on LPG.

We note with grave concern that the product which used to be subsidized has its price build-up being constituted of more than 23% taxes now.

For example, in 2015 a typical 14.5kg LPG cylinder cost about ¢48 and a bag of charcoal then was also ¢40 whilst a bag of charcoal is now 45 cedis the same 14.5kg LPG cost 80 cedis.

This is clearly in breach of the policy decision that influenced the introduction of and the push for the utilization of LPG: to replace wood and other unhealthy fuel alternatives.

Currently, it is logical to conclude that the low-income homes have been priced-out of the LPG market resulting in the massive decline in the use of the product.

Now, according to the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM), which is the implementation model for the National LPG Policy, government envisages that at less 50% of Ghanaians should have access to safe, clean and environmentally-friendly LPG for domestic, commercial and industrial usage by 2030.

We state unequivocally that the vision to increase consumption and get more people to use LPG gas is noble and government has our unalloyed support to implement this great quest.

However, we are afraid this move no matter how wonderful it sounds will not be realized anytime soon. This is because, in the existing saturated market of the product, the only way to increase use is by creating access for new users.

Unfortunately, these same new consumers have no monetary incentive to abandon their cheaper options and jump on the LPG bandwagon because it does not make economic sense to do so. It is our contention that the removal of taxes will significantly bring down the cost of the LPG and make it possible for the ordinary Ghanaian to afford it.

That is why we are calling upon the government to act immediately in the interest of the Ghanaian people it swore to protect and help progress.

Yours, for God and Country.

Signed

Justice Adu Mante

Secretary

—Myjoyonline