Dr. Mustapha Hamid, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), may be reversing his stance on issues of revenue assurance and management in the petroleum downstream industry.
Just a few months ago, Dr. Hamid questioned the potential redundancy of a revenue contract between Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). However, Adomonline.com has obtained a letter inviting participants to a presentation by a company that might offer the same services as SML.
At the time, Dr. Hamid and some NPA management members expressed concerns about possible role duplication, as SML Ghana had been contracted for automatic tank gauging, a task already performed by the GRA.
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Dr. Hamid remarked, “Potentially, we consider it (SML deal) duplicitous,” referring to the company established in February 2017 to enhance the revenue deal a year or two later.
Regarding the necessity of a company like SML Ghana in the petroleum revenue tracking system, the NPA CEO asserted that the system was already robust without SML Ghana’s involvement.
“The NPA has a system that tracks the lifting and transportation of fuel products from the depots to the tanks of the oil marketing companies. With that system, the NPA can tell the volumes of petroleum products in all the fuel stations across Ghana at any given time.” He revealed.
But a letter dated May 20, 2024, and signed by Dr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, the NPA CEO inviting stakeholders for an engagement on May 23, 2024, defeats his earlier stance and calls his credibility into question.
The letter reads in part “The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) wishes to invite you to participate in a presentation by Fields Limited which seeks to provide an End-to-End Primary Supply Assurance and Management System for the Petroleum Downstream Industry. The Technology aims to provide a tailored solution to meet the needs of all stakeholders in terms of ensuring the visibility of supplies of petroleum products in the country including stock monitoring and management as well as addressing risks associated with the supply, trading and financing of petroleum products.
The presentation was scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 23 2024, at 11 am at the Head Office of the NPA in Dzorwulu in Accra.
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The latest move by the NPA boss has raised questions as to why the sudden change in position when the CEO had earlier raised concerns about the duplicity of the project among others.
What has happened to the robust system of the NPA and was it the case that the NPA was not in a position to track all petroleum products as he claimed earlier?
Who is HFIElD and what experience and the person behind the company as well as their experience?
What is the need for a new service provider at a time when GRA already has an end-to-end revenue assurance system?
