The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has revealed that the initial 40,000 tonnes of diesel that arrived in January under the Gold-for-oil policy were valued at US$40 million.
The clarification by the NPA comes after several calls by industry experts including the Institute of Energy Securities for the government to provide details on how much it spent on the initial consignment.
In a statement, the NPA added that it will put measures in place to ensure that OMCs that lift products supplied under the programme pass the price on to consumers accordingly.
“In this respect, BIDECs and OMCs who lift and supply G4O products will sell at the ex-refinery and ex-pump prices that will be determined by the NPA. If there must be a commingling of products supplied under G4O and other sources, the ex-refinery and ex-pump prices will be computed using a weighted average.
Below is the full statement by the NPA
FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GOLD FOR OIL PROGRAMME
1. The implementation of the government’s Gold for Oil (G4O) programme commenced with the arrival of the first consignment of about 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel on January 15, 2023, valued at about US$40 million.
2. The prime objective of the programme is to use additional foreign exchange resources from the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase(DGP) programme to provide foreign currency for the importation of petroleum products for the country which currently stands at about US$350 million per month.
3. Payment for oil supply is to be done in two channels: by way of barter trade where gold is exchanged for oil or via broker channel where the gold is converted into cash and paid to the supplier.
4. The first consignment of 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel constitutes about 10 percent of the country’s combined monthly demand for petrol and diesel.
Source: Citinews