Ghana’s petroleum downstream regulator has revoked the licences of 40 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for failing to comply with industry regulations.

In January this year, the regulator, in a statement, announced the revocation of 30 licences of OMCs.

This means that from January to date, the NPA has revoked an additional 10 licences.

Briefing the media about the operations of the Authority this year, the NPA’s Chief Executive, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, explained that the said holders of the licences were engaging in illegalities.

“So, we’ve also been hard on people holding licences who didn’t have the correct requirements for holding those licences,” he said.

The NPA boss assured industry players of the Authority’s commitment to sanitising the industry by weeding out the non-compliant to ensure those who obey the rules only operate.

Dr Abdul-Hamid stated that the NPA, with Support from EOCO, constituted a committee to go after OMCs who had defaulted in payment of margins and levies.

Dr Abdul-Hamid happily announced that since the formation of the committee, fund collection had increased and they had been able to collect legacy debts.

“Today, we’ve been able to collect up to GH¢73 million from people who were not paying or ready to pay this sum of money,” he announced.

The NPA boss further told the media that one of the things his outfit is seeking to do is amend the NPA Act 2005, Act 691 to reflect modern petroleum sector standards to help Ghanaians get the full benefits of their natural resources.