The Institute for Energy Security (IES) and the Chamber for Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) are requesting the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to make public the full stream of sanctions imposed on Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited for releasing unwholesome products onto the Ghanaian market.

This is coming after the NPA described as incorrect statements by the IES and COPEC that the regulator is “playing soft” with Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited (SORL).

In a joint statement, the two energy think tanks also wants the NPA to publish both the Commercial Licenses and the Quality Assurance Certificate on the petroleum consignment in question, for the sake of transparency, and dispelling industry and consumer fears that the refinery is in a hurry to side step some regulatory protocols".

“To proceed, the IES and COPEC is requesting of the NPA to make public the full stream of sanctions imposed on SORL since it released the unwholesome products onto the Ghanaian market as the said products are believed to be off specification”.

The IES and COPEC also maintained their earlier position and believed same to be true until the NPA applies all the necessary rules pertinent to the industry as it does with all other Ghanaian petroleum service providers (PSPs) strictly, without fear or favour to engender public trust as well as maintain the integrity of the downstream petroleum sector, in order to protect the NPA’s own hard-won reputation over the years.

“To buttress the claim of Sentuo products causing damage to vehicles and consumer complaints, as had earlier been asserted, the IES and COPEC refers to the bold statement released by the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) on February 21, 2024 bringing to the attention of the NPA’s Chief Executive Officer the growing concerns of several of its members in relation to the said quality parameters and viscosity of Sentuo’s petroleum products its members were supplied with”, it explained.

According to the release by the AOMCs, it complained situated the inability of some of their petroleum service station dispensers or pumps to efficiently dispense Sentuo products as well as other quality issues resulting in a significant number of customer complaints effective February 2024.

The two energy think tanks said the purported statement by the NPA contradicts its own initial claims of no wrongdoing to bizarrely conclude that beyond the remedial actions taken on Sentuo out-of-specification products, it is also imposing additional sanctions on Sentuo Oil Refinery Limited (SORL).

“One wonders, if indeed the Sentuo refinery products on the market is not a source of worry why the additional sanctions by the NPA?” it questioned.

They added "The NPA must be made aware of the fact that any such sanctions on the Chinese refinery must factor due and appropriate compensations to both AOMCs and its members affected by the bad fuel and its attendant challenges on their facilities as well as the consumers who patronised these products and are currently grappling with one issue or the other on their engines".

"Anything short of ensuring the payment of these compensations will sure result in a legal suit on the refinery and downstream regulators in the coming days", they concluded.