The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has vowed to clamp down on illegal tabletop sales of petroleum products in the Ashanti region.
The NPA said with the new Executive Instrument C.I. 378, it has the mandate to call for the prosecution of people who engage in petroleum activities without a license.
The Ashanti Regional Director for the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Betty Nana Adwoa Ofori, made these statements during a media engagement in Kumasi, on Monday, November 6, 2023.
She added that the NPA has identified some 80 outlets of these illegal activities in the region and is teaming up with security agencies to curb to bring sanity to the industry.
The NPA stated that it cannot establish or guarantee the quality of such petroleum products, and has therefore cautioned the public to stop buying from these unlicensed outlets.
According to them, these unapproved petroleum products tend to damage vehicles and machines, and the NPA is sometimes blamed for this, hence the clamp down.
The engagement also solicited media assistance on public education on the new NPA Executive Instrument C.I. 378 which grants the institution the power to prosecute petroleum offenders.
“One of the major challenges facing the petroleum industry in the Ashanti region is the selling of petroleum products in the region, so the NPA is collaborating with security agencies to clamp down on them,” Nana Adwoa Ofori said.
“Since the NPA cannot guarantee the quality of such petroleum products, being petrol or diesel, we are asking the public, especially motorists not to patronize them” she advised.
Betty Nana Adwoa Ofori then urged motorists to buy petroleum products only from approved retail outlets.
