Accra, June 7, - The Chief
Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, Mr Alhassan Tampuli,
said the country loses over 200 million dollars annually in tax revenues due to
the nefarious activities of service providers of the petroleum sector in order
to evade tax.
He said the Authority had rolled
out stringent measures to tackle the problem head-on, in close collaboration
with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Navy and other relevant security
agencies.
Some of the measures include
intensification of digital solutions like the Bulk Road Tracking System, the
integration of the Ghana Community Network and GRA Monitoring Platform into the
Enterprise Relational Management System for harmonisation of information and
monitoring.
Mr Tampuli made this known at the
second edition of the Ghana International Petroleum Conference in Accra on the
theme: ‘‘Realising the Vision of a Petroleum Hub’’.
The four-day event was under the
auspices of the Energy Ministry and Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, in
collaboration with the National Petroleum Authority and Association of Oil
Marketing Companies.
It brought together key
stakeholders in the petroleum downstream sector including policy-makers,
regulators and oil service providers, to deliberate on policies and trends in
the sector, as well as discuss pertinent issues affecting the industry in the
bid to guide decision-making.
The participants are expected to
come out with some recommendations to help resolve challenges in the petroleum
downstream sector and chart the way forward.
Mr Tampuli said the Authority
would ensure due processes for export and bunkering of petroleum products as
well as applying stiffer punishment for offenders including withdrawal of
licences.
‘‘Recalcitrant service providers
will be made known to the public by way of naming and shaming offenders and
directors would be banned from participating in any activities in the
downstream petroleum sector,’’ he warned.
Mr Tampuli gave the assurance
that all unpaid taxes would be recovered, noting that the recent measures had
seen the Authority saving the nation nearly 16 million Ghana cedis in tax
revenue alone and seven million Ghana cedis in unpaid margins.
He said the Authority had
intensified its safety compliance inspections on all petroleum products
destinations nationwide and more stringent sanctions were being enforced
including shut down of non-compliant stations.
Mr Tampuli said it had launched a
national safety campaign to raise awareness and adherence to safety protocols
in the petroleum downstream sector under the slogan ‘‘People’s Safety First’’.
Additionally, the Authority was
undertaking an advanced work plan for the implementation of the new Liquefied
Petroleum Gas Policy regarding the Cylinder Re-Circulation Module.
Mr Tampuli gave the assurance
that the Authority would ensure the security of jobs and safety of existing
investments in the downstream petroleum sector as well as maintain or possibly
increase the price build-up margins.
He said there was deliberate
efforts to increase petroleum products penetration and consumption, which would
culminate in the increase in revenue for the fuel dealers, marketers and other
service providers within the value chain.
Mr Tampuli said the stable
political environment would enable the nation to achieve a competitive
petroleum infrastructure and an avenue for increasing tax revenue to the
Government.
However, he called for downward
review of some import tariffs and improvement in the port infrastructure to
make Ghana competitive in the petroleum downstream sector and achieve the
vision of becoming a petroleum hub in the sub-region.
Mr Boakye Agyarko, the Energy
Minister, on his part, said over 50 billion dollars investment funds would be
needed to build relevant petroleum infrastructure such as oil refinery, tank
farms, pipelines, marine facilities and other allied facilities to make Ghana a
petroleum hub.
He said the estimated amount was
reached on the assessment made by a petroleum task force inaugurated by the
Government last year to develop petroleum infrastructure master plan and road
map towards the realisation of the vision.
He said the funds was supposed to
come from public and private investments of which the Government was to raise
10 per cent to support the construction of roads, electricity and water
facilities.
Mr Agyarko said the theme for the
conference was in tandem with the Government’s vision, which was enshrined in
the new National Energy Policy.
To that end, he said, the
Ministry would work diligently to achieve the vision of the Government, adding
that the petroleum task force had visited some countries that had made headway
in petroleum infrastructure.
Therefore, the taskforce
consequently engaged key stakeholders and prospective investors in the
petroleum industry on the way forward.
Mr Agyarko said upon extensive
consultation and assessment by the task force, government was convinced that
the nation had the capacity of developing petroleum infrastructure into a hub
in the sub-region.
He, therefore, urged the
petroleum service providers to upgrade their skills and business capacity to
partner with the Foreign Direct Investors to ensure a fair balance and
significant value retention of benefits in the country.
The Energy Minister gave the
assurance that the Government would provide favourable fiscal environment and
incentives to attract the right investment into the petroleum downstream
industry.
GNA
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