COPEC calls out government for neglecting key energy assets

In a scathing indictment of the government’s energy sector management, Duncan Amoah, Executive Director of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), has criticised authorities for neglecting vital state assets like the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) while allegedly allowing the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) to prioritise profit over its core mandate as a consumer buffer.

Appearing on Channel One TV’s ‘The Point of View’ on Monday, June 16, Mr. Amoah pointed to recent developments, including the controversial suspension of the Energy Sector Shortfall and Debt Repayment Levy, as stark evidence of a troubling lack of strategic vision and long-term commitment to energy sector reforms.

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“If the government indeed wanted to even retool TOR, the tax that you and I are discussing today, you should have seen a component of it go into revamping TOR,” Amoah asserted. His comments resonate deeply amidst public outcry over fuel costs and mounting questions about the government’s genuine resolve to rebuild Ghana’s crucial energy infrastructure.

Ghana’s only refinery, TOR, established in 1963 with a nominal processing capacity of 45,000 barrels per day, has largely remained dormant since around 2017, forcing the nation to spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on refined petroleum product imports. Amoah’s critique suggests that levies imposed on consumers, such as the Energy Sector Shortfall and Debt Repayment Levy (introduced in 2021 to address legacy debts), represented a colossal missed opportunity to channel funds directly into the revitalization of this strategic national asset.

Amoah reserved particular scorn for BOST, questioning its current operational philosophy.

Established in 1993 as Ghana’s strategic petroleum buffer, designed to hold up to 650,000 metric tonnes of fuel reserves and stabilise prices during supply disruptions or sharp market volatility, BOST is now behaving like a commercial entity, he argued.

“We are allowing BOST to behave as though it were a BDC [Bulk Distribution Company]. Meanwhile BOST margin is being collected from you and I when we buy petrol,” Amoah lamented.

He highlighted that the BOST margin, reportedly GH¢0.12 per litre of fuel, is directly borne by consumers, yet the intended safety net – price stabilization – is conspicuously absent.

“So we’re keeping BOST running, but the safety net that BOST should have provided for you and I, we’re not encouraging them to that. They are rather behaving as though they are a Private BDC that will need to make a profit?” he questioned, hinting at a fundamental betrayal of its public mandate.

The COPEC Executive Director further elaborated on BOST’s reported financial gains in recent times, contrasting them sharply with the daily burden on consumers.

“So in recent times the cliché for BOST has been we’ve made so much profit, but fuel prices are going up and for you as a buffer if you are making profit as whose expense are you making profit?” he probed, implicitly suggesting that BOST’s claimed profits, which sources indicate could be in the region of GH¢250 million in the last fiscal year, are being made at the direct expense of the Ghanaian populace facing ever-increasing pump prices.

Amoah’s forceful remarks underscore a growing concern that Ghana’s strategic energy assets are being mismanaged, leading to direct financial hardship for citizens and eroding the nation’s long-term energy security.

He called for a renewed commitment from the government to enforce the public-interest mandates of state-owned enterprises and prioritize strategic investments over short-term financial gains.

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