The former Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST), Dr Edwin Alfred Nii Obodai Provencal has robustly defended Ghana’s ‘Gold for Oil’ (G4O) initiative against recent criticisms.
This comes in response to remarks by Dr Riverson Oppong, CEO of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC), who questioned the programme’s efficacy and transparency.
Dr Provencal has in a rejoinder emphasised the programme’s success in stabilising fuel prices and reducing foreign exchange pressures.
He noted, “Premiums on petroleum products dropped from $135 per metric tonne to $65 currently, and diesel prices have fallen from GHS23 per litre in November 2022 to the current price of GHS15.45.”
He attributed these achievements to the G4O programme’s role in anchoring and stabilising the forex rate over a prolonged period.
Addressing allegations of fuel shortages towards the end of 2024, Dr Provencal clarified, “There was no shortage of fuel in the country at any time; this was verified and confirmed by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).”
He attributed distribution challenges in some regions to external factors, stating, “Most international oil suppliers adopted a wait-and-see attitude during the election period and thereafter, so they diverted supplies away from Ghana, but that did not cause a shortage even though stocks reduced.”
On the issue of transparency, Dr Provencal asserted that the G4O programme involved multiple stakeholders, including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, Bank of Ghana, and the NPA.
He said, “It is totally untrue that the programme was opaque because any stakeholder that needed information then and now can source it from any of these institutions.”
Dr Provencal also highlighted endorsements from former critics, saying, “Recently, Joe Jackson, a former fierce critic of G4O, stated that ‘the cedi depreciation would have been worse if not for the ‘Gold for Oil’ policy’.”
In contrast, Dr Riverson Oppong had previously expressed concerns about the programme’s implementation. He remarked, “The Gold-for-Oil programme failed to stabilise energy prices and even contributed to fuel shortages towards the end of 2024.”
The G4O initiative, introduced in 2022, aims to leverage Ghana’s gold reserves to purchase oil, thereby reducing the demand for foreign currency and stabilising the cedi. While it has been credited with several economic benefits, the programme continues to face scrutiny regarding its transparency and overall impact.
As discussions continue, the Energy Minister, John Jinapor, has indicated plans to review and possibly discontinue the current G4O programme.
He stated that “The current Gold-for-Oil programme we’ve inherited—we will discontinue it. Take it from me.”
