NPA Halts Sale of Sentuo Oil Refinery Fuel Due to Quality Concerns

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has taken action to suspend the sale of fuel provided by Sentuo Oil Refinery, a Chinese-owned entity, citing concerns over alleged substandard quality.

This decision comes in response to appeals from the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) and the Institute for Energy Security (IES) urging the NPA to cease operations at the refinery due to suspected illicit activities.

COPEC and IES raised objections regarding the refinery’s operations, highlighting the absence of necessary permits from the NPA and allegations of supplying inferior fuel to consumers in Ghana.

According to the NPA Act 2005, entities involved in downstream sector commercial activities are mandated to obtain a permit from the board before commencing operations. Despite this requirement, Sentuo purportedly failed to secure the essential permits for oil processing and trading.

Ubeidalah Saed, the Head of Quality Control at the NPA, disclosed during an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News on Citi FM that they are currently evaluating the products distributed to various filling stations. Discussions with the refinery are ongoing to determine the appropriate course of action.

“We are still in discussions with them to ascertain the cause because the standard procedure of the NPA Quality Assurance system involves granting approval based on certificate values, followed by physical verification to confirm the stated quality,” Saed stated.

“We have suspended the sale of the specific product… We are examining all affected filling stations to gather comprehensive information and draw meaningful conclusions,” he added.

Meanwhile, the NPA issued a statement addressing the allegations made by IES and COPEC, stating that it was inaccurate and alarmist to claim that the “out-of-specification products caused damage to vehicles and machinery.”

“It’s important to note that no vehicle damage has been reported, with the issue relating to high vapor pressure,” the statement clarified.

Source: ghmediahub