Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), Patrick Ofori, has expressed the willingness of its members to import fuel from Nigeria’s Dangote Oil Refinery for onward sale and distribution to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the country.
Making the assertion during a press soiree on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, Dr Ofori quipped there’s a demand for refined fuel from the Dangote Oil Refinery among BDCs in the country given the low price of refined fuel from the refinery.
This is, however, impeded by the lack of logistics and infrastructure challenges associated with the transport of fuel between the two countries.
“BDCs are willing to buy fuel from Dangote oil refinery given the relatively low price of fuel from the refinery, but the main hurdle is logistics and infrastructure issues, as there is no major trade route for transport of fuel between Ghana and Nigeria. Additionally, there is no designated vessel to transport fuel from Nigeria to Ghana,” he quipped.
Adding that, if the logistical and infrastructure challenges currently hindering the importation of fuel from the oil refinery are resolved, BDCs will be more than happy to import fuel from the Dangote oil refinery.
The CBOD is said to have been in talks with the Dangote refinery to supply refined petroleum products to BDCs in Ghana since September 2023.
The $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery has slashed the price of diesel in Nigeria by 16.6 per cent to N1,000 (GHS 11.38) per litre, from N1,200 (GHS 13.88) per litre in order to assist in impacting Nigeria’s domestic economy.
The price of diesel was relatively high for months, due mainly to the importation of the product from the global market and foreign exchange crisis associated with it.