ZEN Petroleum boss slams government

ZEN Petroleum boss, William Kodwo Tewiah, has said it is insane for those who pay premium price for petroleum products not to have them, because government refuses to pay subsidies to Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) to enable them raise Letters of Credit (LCs), to clear tanker loads of fuel at the country's sea ports of Tema and Takoradi.

According to him, mining companies for instance, are willing to pay premium price for fuel, but are denied the products, due to government's nonpayment on subsidies to fuel importers.

Tewiah asserted in an interview with StarrFMOnline.com that the most realistic way to deal with recurring fuel shortages in the young oil-producing West African country, is to implement full cost recovery.

In his view, unpaid subsidies by government have made it nearly impossible for the BDCs to import new petroleum product.

He added that under the current arrangement, businesses and individual consumers can only have continuous supply of petroleum products if they no longer relied on government subsidy.

“The banks currently financing the fuel subsidy have reached their elastic limit and are therefore no longer able to assist BDCs with LCs that is why the tankers at both Tema and Takoradi Ports have failed to offload fuel to the Bulk Distribution Companies,” Tewiah said.