The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has moved to reassure Ghanaians that it has built safeguards to prevent private fuel companies from gaining enough control over petroleum supplies to hold the country hostage, drawing a direct line between its current regulatory posture and the crippling fuel shortages that paralysed Ghana a decade ago.
NPA Chief Executive Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe said the country currently holds not less than six weeks of fuel cover, dismissing concerns about an imminent supply crisis even as global petroleum markets tighten.
“Currently we have not less than 6 weeks of cover. Not less,” Mr Tamakloe said on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday. He added that the volume of petroleum products on vessels heading to Ghana provides an additional buffer for the domestic market. “And if you look at the number of vessels even on the high seas, it is significant,” he said.
A Ghost From 2014
The NPA boss’s reference to the “2014-2015 events” is a pointed one. Between 2013 and 2014, Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector was crippled by government indebtedness to Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs), which ballooned to over GH¢1.8 billion by mid-2014. The debts made it difficult for BDCs to raise letters of credit to cover oil imports, triggering acute fuel shortages across the country. At the height of the crisis, some mining companies warned of an imminent diesel shortage, with available stocks of diesel standing at around 30 million litres against a weekly national consumption of 42 million litres. The government was forced to release its strategic oil reserve to cushion the severe shortage.
That episode left deep scars on Ghana’s energy security architecture. Mr Tamakloe acknowledged the concern that the private-sector-led structure of the downstream industry could leave the government vulnerable to manipulation by fuel companies.
“I think there are some buffers that we put in place to ensure that the 2014-2015 events do not happen again,” he said. “And as I said, that’s a particular concern, a great concern, to the President of the Republic, so we don’t get to a point where the private sector can effectively hold the whole country to ransom”.
The Architecture of the Market
Mr Tamakloe explained that the structure of Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector was deliberately designed to encourage private sector participation under the NPA’s enabling law, the National Petroleum Authority Act, 2005 (Act 691). “If you look at the very ethos of the law, it is private sector led,” he said, noting that the Act created different layers of industry participation, including Bulk Distribution Companies and Oil Marketing Companies, with limited direct state participation.
The NPA was established under Act 691 to regulate, oversee and monitor activities in the petroleum downstream industry, with a mandate that includes licensing, monitoring of stock at strategic storage depots, and promotion of fair competition. The Act also contains explicit monopoly and cartel provisions, including prohibitions on cartelisation and the promotion of new entrants. Under the deregulated pricing system, private importers, distributors and retailers are empowered to set ex-refinery and ex-pump prices with no intervention from the government.
The Price Pressure
For Mr Tamakloe, the immediate concern is not the availability of petroleum products but the pressure on prices. The NPA has raised the price floor for the latest pricing window, with petrol now subject to a minimum price of GH¢16 per litre and diesel at a floor of GH¢16.77 per litre, effective September 16. LPG has a floor price of GH¢10.97 per kilogramme. This followed an earlier increase at the start of September, when the petrol floor rose from GH¢13.92 to GH¢14.53 per litre, and diesel from GH¢15.19 to GH¢15.60.
“No, my major concern now is price,” Mr Tamakloe said when asked about the possibility of supply disruptions. He dismissed concerns about an imminent supply problem, pointing to efforts by exporting countries to bring additional suppliers into the market. “Not at all. These exporting countries are now looking at roping in. Dangote is here,” he said. Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery, with a capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day, has significantly reduced Nigeria’s reliance on imported petrol while increasing exports to neighbouring African countries, including Ghana.
Regional Ripple Effects
The supply pressures have also had regional consequences. BOST Energies, Ghana’s state-owned fuel distributor, has reduced diesel and gasoline exports to Burkina Faso and Mali since August, prioritising domestic demand. Burkina Faso received only about 40,000 metric tonnes of the 80,000 tonnes it requested for July and August, while Mali also received substantially less than requested. BOST has explained that the cut was mainly due to ongoing revamp works at its Bolgatanga depot and was not an indication of an impending fuel shortage in Ghana. The development carries wider implications for West Africa, as Burkina Faso and Mali are landlocked economies that depend heavily on access to petroleum products through coastal neighbours.
The Structural Challenge
Ghana’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products remains a structural vulnerability. The country consumes between 120,000 and 140,000 barrels of petroleum products daily, yet local refining capacity is inadequate to meet total demand. The Tema Oil Refinery, which resumed operations in December 2025 after years of inactivity, currently processes about 28,000 barrels per day against a national demand of approximately 112,000 barrels per day. Ghana spends about US$400 million every month importing petroleum products.
The government is betting on the expansion of the Sentuo Oil Refinery — Ghana’s first privately owned refinery, built at a cost of US200 million loan coordinated by Ecobank Ghana. Combined with TOR’s planned expansion, Ghana aims to produce 70% of its fuel domestically and position itself as a leading energy hub in West Africa.
The Bottom Line
For now, Mr Tamakloe’s message is one of reassurance. With at least six weeks of stock in place, additional cargoes on the high seas, and new regional refining capacity coming online, Ghana has a buffer against immediate supply disruptions. But the NPA chief is clear-eyed about the challenge ahead: the battle is no longer about keeping fuel in the tanks, but about keeping prices within reach of ordinary Ghanaians.
