Group Challenged LPG Operators’ ‘False’ Cylinder Recirculation Claims

UBI Group, the parent company of Puma Energy and Blue Ocean Investments has debunked claims of the LPG Operators Association that it is engaged in illegality in the country's petroleum industry.

In a statement copied to citinewsroom.com, UBI Group said contrary to claims by the LPG operators in their article published last week that Puma Energy was a foreign company coming to take over their business in the LPG industry said the company was registered in Ghana with majority Ghanaian ownership.

UBI Group is the parent company of Puma Energy and Blue Ocean Investments

“The UBI Group today employs a total of 194 staff out of which 99% of this total workforce is Ghanaian,” it said.

It added that claims that it had contravened the country's regulations under the Petroleum Policy by being involved in vertical licensing; registering both as a Bulk Oil Distributor and a petroleum retailer were false.

UBI Group said its companies; Ocean Investments Limited and Puma Energy Distribution Limited were both operating independently in the two sectors and could not be said to be the same company with a vertical license.

“These are 2 separate licenced companies registered in line with the laws of Ghana,” the UBI Group statement said.

Read UBI Group's reaction below:
The UBI Group is a company registered as per the NPA Act 2005, Act 691; with majority Ghanaian (local) ownership.

– Blue Ocean Investments Limited, registered in 2012, is a Bulk Distribution Company (BDC) fully owned by the UBI Group.

– Puma Energy Distribution Limited, registered in 2015, is an Oil Marketing Company (OMC), fully owned by the UBI Group.

– These are 2 separate licenced companies registered in line with the laws of Ghana.

In 2015, Blue Ocean Investments Limited, applied to the NPA and secured a Construction Permit for the construction of its LPG facility in Tema. The company subsequently proceeded to construct its LPG bulk storage, which is fully operational today.

Blue Ocean has also fully completed its LPG bottling plant as per global standards and is yet to commence operations.

The UBI Group today employs a total of 194 staff out of which 99% of this total workforce is Ghanaian.

Various groups in Ghana's LPG industry including the Association of Gas Tanker Operators and the LPG Operators Association in various public addresses claimed that the government had contracted Puma Energy Limited to be the sole entity to implement the cylinder recirculation regime.

They have kicked against the planned recirculation module when they say will collapse the 30-year-old industry.

LPG operators declared a strike which was called off after 3-days

The LPG operators last week embarked on a nationwide strike over the development but called it off after government intervened and assured them of listening to their concerns and fashioning out a way of ensuring their interest is protected.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana