Some vehicle owners have expressed concern about the poor quality fuel being sold at the pumps nationwide.
According to them, their vehicles no longer operate efficiently after continuous use of such fuels.
Some experts have attributed this to a high concentration of manganese in the fuel currently sold.
The drivers and vehicle owners spend huge sums to replace parts damaged by the contaminated fuel.
They say some oil companies are selling below the standard, enriching their pockets to the detriment of customers.
“Some oil companies are selling below the standard. We know because you use this fuel, you know the response of the engine. These people are doing business, enriching their pockets, and some of our car engines are being damaged. It is not good. It is not right,” a customer said.
“I buy my fuel every day. When I changed my plugs, it was quite expensive, and I don’t even know why my car will start jerking like that,” another driver told The Ghana Report.
This has prompted the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to initiate steps to review the national standards for gasoline.
NPA says the review will seek to reduce the maximum allowable manganese level in regular gasoline from 18mg/l to 6mg/l and premium gasoline grade from 18mg/l to 2mg/l.
A statement issued by the Corporate Affairs Directorate of NPA indicated that pending the completion of the review process, the NPA had directed that all new gasoline imports should comply with the proposed manganese standards of 6mg/l for regular gasoline and 2mg/l for premium gasoline grade.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, COPEC, has already threatened legal action against the NPA over alleged manganese concentration in fuel.
According to the Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, the presence of a high concentration of manganese in the fuel currently sold in the Ghanaian market is causing damage to the engines of cars.
“We have had to go down to do some checks to realise that there is some amount of manganese in some of the products across the board with the OMCs that has been quite sensitive to some of the vehicles, particularly Hyundai vehicles,” Mr Amoah stated.