BostGate Scandal Episode 2: How BOST ‘Nichodemously’ Sold out Contaminated Fuel

A very comprehensive document titled, “BOSTGATE SCANDAL: Open Letter to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana” stated that it is however suspicious why Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) knowingly dealt with persons without legitimate standing or capacity, indicating that the process of sale was neither competitive nor transparent and too suspicious.

Many Ghanaians would have thought that indeed if the contamination occurred as a result of “human error”, certainly heads should have rolled on the chopping board without the bereft of any touch of human feelings for bleeding the state of about GHc7million.

It’s unfortunate, even after the BNI cleared BOST of any wrongdoing, there were no arrangement to recall all contaminated fuel on the market after reports had it that some pumps were selling the dirty fuel. The engine of vehicles will knockdown and innocent lives will perish when they come into contact with the dirty fuel.

Product Getting to the Market
I am not advancing cession of jibes and gag-monger criticisms but evidence from aggregating contestations by energy think tanks, CSOs and experts as well as political opponents was that Ghanaians were fed up to the back tooth given the potential for flare up in the sale of the 5million contaminated fuel to an unlicensed company.

The anonymous document, “BOSTGATE SCANDAL: Open Letter to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana” provides a technical background and true explanation on the activities and operations of BOST by way of exposing the factors that led to the contamination and sale of the product referred to as off-spec. It also confirms that Zupoil and Movenpiina have possibly misled Ghana by their false representations.

The document indicated that a contamination of diesel by petrol moderates first and foremost, the density of the composite product as well as the Initial Boiling Point (IBP). The key specifications to look out for in a situation like this are the densities and IBP. Changes in densities are a function of blending.

This implies that to increase density you mix existing products with products of higher density and to reduce density, you mix existing products with products of lower densities. This relationship is typically linear in that if you take one litre of a product with a density of 800kg/m³ and you mix it with another litre of a product of 1000 density, you will get 2 litres of a composite product of 900kg/m³.

(1lt r x 800) + (1lt r x 1000)= 900

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In the case of the IBP, the relationship in blending is not linear but unique subject to the chemical composition of both products. As a result, if you blend a litre of a product of an IBP of 100 with another product of an IBP of 200 you will not get an IBP of 150.

(1lt r x 100) + (1lt r x 200) ≠150

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To ascertain whether the quality of products found in ZUPOIL were the same as the products lifted from the BOST tank, the NPA commissioned a test of the product at Zupoil and at BOST. Three samples were taken from ZUPOIL in three different tanks and one sample taken from the BOST tank with the contaminated products. These were tested at the ToR and Intertek laboratories.

To ascertain whether the quality of products found in ZUPOIL were the same as the products lifted from the BOST tank, the NPA commissioned a test of the product at ZUPOIL and at BOST. Three samples were taken from ZUPOIL in three different tanks and one sample taken from the BOST tank with the contaminated products. These were tested at the ToR and Intertek laboratories and the results were gathered.

However note that the density standard for diesel is 820 kg/m³ (min) to 850 kg/m³ and minimum IBP expected in 160.

The results indicate that the original contaminated products lifted from BOST at a density of 806.9 has been blended by Zupoil with heavier diesel to yield higher densities observed in sample Zupoil 1, 2 and 3.

The document indicated that when blending occurs, volume increases (additional products are introduced to mix the existing products). The NPA in its reports indicated it was unable to account for about 55 or 47 thousand litres during its first search. This indicates that there were no surplus volumes. The above results yield a sample average density of 819.25 kg/m³. Assuming Zupoil accessed the heaviest allowable diesel of 850 kg/m³ density to blend the products in its custody, it will require about 189,165 litres to achieve the density in point above. If the quality accessed by Zupoil was 840 kg/m³, it would have required a minimum 280,329 litres.

If no products were released to market, the NPA would have observed a minimum

471,ooo ltrs + 189,165 = 751,329 ltrs. NPA observed a total volume of 471,000 ltrs in Zupoil’s facility and not the minimum expected of 751,329ltrs. This confirms the release of the contaminated products to the market. It also confirms that Zupoil and Movenpiina have possibly misled Ghana by their false representations.

Inferring from the above, about 200,000 thousand to 300,000 litres of contaminated products have surely been released to the market. This is a fact and known in truth by the relevant authorities. Anyone with “ears” on the ground in Tema is aware of yards in which these products were traded. The products were nicknamed “Abolobo.” If the President is unaware, then he either has an incompetent intelligence system or he is being clearly lied to.

It emphasised that any reference to the consistency of the IBP as argument against any claim of product release to the market is ill informed and moot because the IBP as indicated earlier is not linear.

The Illegal Transaction of BOST
The NPA ACT 691 is very clear on this matter. Section 11 (I) of Act 691 states that “A person shall not engage in a business or commercial activity in the downstream industry unless that person has been granted a licence for that purpose by the Board.”

It has been argued that there are no licensed waste oil processing companies. This is untrue. Glasbrown Ltd and Batcco Investments are duly licensed with the NPA to operate as waste oil processing companies. They have been in operation for over 3years.

Movenpiina Energy and Zupoil were both reported to have no license to engage in any activity in the downstream petroleum sector. BOST was alleged to have engaged in illegal transactions with Movenpiina and Zupoil who were not actually licensed by the National Petroleum Authority.

How BOST got Exposed
Institute of Energy Security first got the hint and quickly drew the attention of the public to attempt by BOST to sell contaminated fuel to some oil marketing companies. The development comes months after the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) uncovered a syndicate of companies involved in the illegal sale of petroleum products at the country’s ports. The Principal Research Analyst at the Institute of Energy Security (IES), Richmond Rockson told Citi fm that the move must be stopped to save consumers from the harmful effects of the unwholesome product.

He stated that “For BOST to be selling this quantity to individuals at that amount is just unfortunate; government should not be seen as leading the way when it comes to selling contaminated fuel unto the market. If BOST is to be selling the product at a cost of 2.50 per litre, then we would be talking about 12 million cedis but we understand it is being sold at 1 cedi per litre so we realize the amount of money that Ghana is losing.”

The situation further got heightened when a statement by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) also pointed that this action by BOST raises the fundamental concern as to whether BOST should be allowed to be trading and import off-spec products into Ghana.

ACEP indicated that the recurrent scandals that have emerged from the activities of the company in recent past demands that the government takes a critical look at focusing BOST on its strategic mandate of keeping stocks as a national security assert for protecting consumers against manipulation and unforeseen shortfalls.

It added that BOST has failed to demonstrated care for the consumer in this case and the ministry of Energy will have to step in immediately to ensure that the NPA raises the bar in its regulatory function to guarantee the protection of consumers.

ACEP however called on NPA to activate the needed sanctions for the Movenpiina and Zupoil for participating in the industry without license to send the signal to illegal operators in the industry but failed to yield results.

The faces behind Movenpiina and Zupoil remain a mystery as many attempts to trace the beneficial owners have proven futile. Watch this space as yours truly brings you highlights on this development in the next episode on “BOST and NPA inconsistencies.”

The Writer Is A Development Journalist
Holds B.A In Public Relations & Advertising (B.A)