The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has begun a partnership with the Togolese Directorate in charge of Environment to monitor the trans-boundary movement of waste oil between the two countries.

According to the two institutions, some unscrupulous persons tend to smuggle in finished petroleum products under the guise of transporting waste oil, hence, the need to collaborate in sharing information between the two countries to curb the illegalities.

This follows a courtesy call by the NPA led by its Deputy Chief Executive, Mrs Linda Asante on the Togolese Directorate in charge of Environment last week in Lome, Togo headed by Miss Mery Yaou.

Mrs Asante said that, while she was aware of the Basel convention which provides the framework for such activities, waste oil activities have become an issue of grave concern in Ghana, adding that, “the reason for which the NPA seeks to have a working relation with the Directorate in Togo”.

Corroborating, Miss Mery Yaou, the Head of the Directorate said the visit was very timely especially because they also have in recent times had concerns with waste oil activities, particularly on how waste oil delivered to Ghana is disposed off.

She assured the NPA of her institution’s support and close collaboration to ensure a robust system is put in place for effectively monitoring of waste oil activities.

The NPA team also visited it’s counterpart in Togo, the Comité de Suivi des Fluctuations des Prix des Produits Pétroliers (CSFPPP) and the Togolese Port Authority, which is responsible for the management and oversight of all port infrastructure including the Oil Jetty.

Mrs. Asante expressed the NPA’s interest in discussing more business opportunities which can be exploited by players in both countries.

The discussion also centred on how to map out strategies to enhance efficiency in export trade while instituting measures to combat illegal malpractices in the trade.

In a related development, the NPA team also made a visit to the project site of Sanol Gas (an LPG marketing company in Togo) where there is currently the construction of a 3000MT capacity LPG Tank Farm.

The visit was to explore business opportunities between the two countries in the LPG sub-sector.

Mrs. Asante informed Sanol Gas of the review of the existing guidelines which seeks to make the export process more business friendly and with a view to facilitate trade.

She further appealed to Sanol Gas to reconsider Ghana as a country of choice for its LPG supply.