BOST denies media reportage of ‘lack of fuel’ at depots
Management of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), has debunked media reportage of the company having insufficient fuel at its depots spread across the country and for which its drivers (tanker drivers) have been rendered jobless for some months now.
In a communique issued by the Corporate Communications Department of BOST, the company enumerated 7 current operations of the company which nullifies the various media reportage seeming to suggest that the company is at the moment ineffective.
BOST in the communique, boasted of improved asset utilisation from a paltry 15 percent to 85 percent in just two years and is further seeking to bring ‘every single asset lying idle over the last couple of years into operation to maximize value for Ghanaians.’
“We will at this point urge the public to disregard the unfounded allegations on the operations of the company and trust BOST to live up to its bidding for the Good People of Ghana.”
“We further wish to encourage the media to practice responsible reportage of issues by cross-checking with our Corporate Communications and External Affairs Department to avoid misleading reports like these,” read parts of the Communique.
Read below details of BOST’s communique:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Corporate Communications Department
BOST Head Office
Accra
020 9442257
marlick.adjei@bost.gov.gh
RE: LACK OF FUEL AT BOST DEPOTS RENDERS TANKER DRIVERS JOBLESS FOR MONTHS
Accra-July 31st, 2021-The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited, BOST has taken notice of a publication making the rounds to the effect that Tanker divers have petitioned the President, His Excellency Nana Akufo Addo to intervene in the operations of the company since, in their view, BOST operations is taking a nosedive. According to the said publication, for close to a year, a majority of tanker drivers have been rendered jobless due to lack of fuel stocks at BOST depots and they could barely get loads to their destinations.
The company wishes to respond as follows:
1. The transmission of fuel from BOST’s Primary Depot in Accra to Kumasi, Buipe, Akosombo, and Bolga Depots are carried out through three modules: Road (Tankers also called BRVS), Pipeline, and River Barges via the Volta Lake.
2. BOST has two pipelines connecting the Tema-Akosombo and Buipe-Bolgatanga Depots.
3. Over the past few years, the two pipelines have been down and all the four river barges on the Volta Lake were also grounded.
4. Efficient resource utilization and focused management has resulted in a full repair of all four river barges that were grounded and the two pipelines which had been out of use for close to five years. The barges are in full utilization and the Buipe-Bolgatanga Petroleum Product Pipeline is in full use. The Tema- Akosombo Product Pipeline is expected to be in use by the close of the third quarter.
5. One river barge voyage from Akosombo to Buipe takes a total of about 5,300,000 liters of product. With a maximum capacity of 54,000 liters per truck (tanker or BRV as indicated earlier), one barge trip is the equivalent of (5,300,000/54,000) = 98 trucks. With the barges making close to 10 turns in a month, (98*10) = 980 truckloads are saved.
6. In the process, more volumes of the product get transferred to the northern depot in Buipe which gets further pushed through the repaired pipeline to Bolgatanga to facilitate the export business into the landlocked countries and to meet the domestic demand of the northern, Upper East, and West as well as the North East and Savana Regions.
7. For a faster and quicker movement of volumes to meet the increasing export demand, the barge/pipeline formula is more efficient and will therefore affect the volume that gets transferred through the use of Road Trucks (BRVs or Tankers).
8. We will at this point urge the public to disregard the unfounded allegations on the operations of the company and trust BOST to live up to the bidding for the Good People of Ghana.
9. We further wish to encourage the media to practice responsible reportage of issues by cross-checking with our Corporate Communications and External Affairs Department to avoid misleading reports like these.
10. BOST is in safe hands (a solid board and management team) and things are really getting better: our asset utilization has improved from a paltry 15% to 85% (including the pipelines and barges) within two years and we are seeking to bring every single asset which has been lying idle over the last couple of years into operation to maximize value for the 30 million Ghanaians.
11. BOST is in a good state and is poised to deliver on its mandate to benefit the government and the people of Ghana.
12. To Ghana we belong and through BOST we serve.
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For further inquiries, log on to our website at www.bost.com.gh.
OR Call direct through:
Mobile +233 (0)209442257
Corporate Communications and External Affairs
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