Energy Minister: Blame Commercial Drivers For Shortage Of Gas

The Minister for Energy, Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, has attributed the inconsistent supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the country to the increasing usage of the product (LPG) by commercial vehicles. Dr. Oteng-Adjei explained that the affordable price of LPG is as a result of the subsidy component on the product which was designed for domestic users with the primary objective of meeting their demand at an affordable price, adding that due to higher price differentials between LPG and gasoline, most commercial drivers have converted their gasoline fuelled vehicles to LPG fuelled ones, thereby increasing the demand for LPG. He made these revelations at a meet the press conference which took place at the conference room of the Ministry of Information in Accra. Dr. Oteng-Adjei opined that with the high demand for LPG in commercial quantities in recent times, the current infrastructure for LPG is inadequate and has come under some constraints. He stressed that the current TOR production of 200-250 MT per day is insufficient for the growing demand in the country since the 6 inch LPG pipeline from the jetty to TOR is severely inadequate to pump at a faster rate. He also added that the available LPG storage capacity of TOR of 6,500 MT is also insufficient while the delivery capacity of TOR also does not meet the required standard needed to efficiently meet the country�s soaring demand. The Minister revealed that to address the supply constraint, TOR is constructing additional storage capacity of 1,500 MT while Fueltrade is also constructing a tank farm with 4,500 MT storage capacities which will be completed by December 2011 and March 2012 respectively to increase the storage capacity to 12,000 MT. Dr. Oteng-Adjei also added that an 8-inch pipeline as well as two horizontal pumps which will be completed by the end of October 2011 is being installed to enhance the pumping rate of the LPG product to TOR.