Two of Ghana’s influential energy think tanks, the Institute of Energy Security (IES) and the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), have dismissed calls for the re-imposition of the BOST Strategic Stock Levy as suggested by the Managing Director of BOST, Edwin Provencal.
The BOST MD, some weeks ago is reported to have called for the re-imposition of the Strategic Stock or Reserves Levy to enable the company achieve a standard fuel reserve of six weeks.
According to Mr Provencal, the levy which has been zeroed out in the price build-up of petroleum products in the country, when re-introduced will help BOST save up the required six weeks of fuel reserves thereby ensuring fuel security in the country.
Currently, BOST, as noted by the MD has only two weeks of fuel reserves.
“Today we have about only two weeks, and even though we have two weeks I won’t term them as strategic reserves, because the strategic reserves have to be paid for by the beneficiary which is the public and as I speak to you nobody pays for strategic reserves because it has been zeroed out in the price build-up.”
“So even though we want to enjoy the public good called the strategic reserves, you and I are not paying for it. And if we want to benefit from it then we need to put in the strategic reserves levy that will now force BOST to keep six weeks of reserves,” he stated.
Read: Re-imposition of strategic stock levy needed – BOST MD
But according to Nana Amoasi IV, the Executive Director of IES, the re-introduction of the Strategic Stock Levy is a ‘lazy and an uncreative way’ of BOST trying to raise funds for its operations and to live up to its mandate of providing strategic reserves for use by the country in times of great need for fuel.
“Unless the definition of strategic fuel reserves has been modified to mean something else, the IES can boldly state that BOST doesn’t have a single day worth of petroleum product reserve. A two-week petroleum product reserve means the company is holding volumes in excess of 200 million litres of just petrol and diesel,” he stated.
“Levy is a lazy way of raising capital and that is what BOST has resorted to over the last 18 months. They have not found any innovative way of generating the required cash flow for their operations. Levying may not be the most sustainable way of living up to your mandate because it places extra burdens on citizens,” he added.
Also touching on the issue was the Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, who agreed with the assertion made by Nana Amoasi IV.
“We do not think that the margins we contribute to BOST are only for maintaining their operations, we do expect BOST to keep a strategic stock. That is exactly what BOST has been set up to do for Ghanaians such that in times when world oil prices go higher than our pockets we should be able to fall on them,” he averred.
The BOST Strategic Stock Levy if re-introduced, will be imposed on every litre of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, further increasing the prices of fuel in the country.
