The Institute of Energy Security(IES) has questioned the rationale behind the government’s efforts to obtain cheap fuel for the Ghanaian market.
The Chief Executive Officer of IES, Nana Amoasi VII, describes the venture as far from possible.
In his address to the nation on Sunday, October 30, 2022, President Akufo-Addo announced that the government was working to secure a reliable and regular source of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market.
According to President Akufo-Addo, if this arrangement is successful, coupled with a stable currency, it will halt the rise in fuel prices and provide relief to Ghanaians.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that a government delegation is already in Abu Dhabi negotiating a deal to bring petroleum products onto the Ghanaian market.
However, the IES has cautioned the team to be careful in their quest.
In a statement issued on Thursday, November 3, the IES said, “the search for that heavily discounted fuel price from elsewhere is an unrealistic hope, and the team may return empty-handed unless the expectation/request is exchanged with something valuable to the would-be supplier.
“If His Excellency the President and the handlers of Ghana’s Energy Ministry look within, they would find what they are desperately looking for from outside the country. Indeed the search for reliable and affordable sources of petroleum products starts with the Tema Oil Refinery, which has been down since March 2021 due to a lack of crude oil which is the refinery’s main raw material,” the statement noted.
The statement further said that no international market would be willing to give out petroleum products at a cheap discount.
“I don’t know who is advising the Energy Minister because the venture they are undertaking is far from possibility. This is not how the energy sector works, so they should be careful.
“I hope that the quest to get cheap and reliable fuel is not an attempt to waste the country’s meagre resources or an attempt to enrich a few people to the detriment of over 30 million Ghanaians or a deliberate attempt to grow the energy sector debt,” IES added.
IES noted that given a case that the team is successful in their quest, they should be made to declare the full discount value they are able to negotiate.
“They must tell Ghanaians what they also gave in return for that favour. And also, we must be very careful; our fear as IES is that they could be giving out something for free in order to get that discount.
“If there is a market that can give you a cheap discount to beat all the markets all over the world, I am sure the BDCs would have gone for it. So let us be careful of the venture that we are undertaking,” the statement cautioned.