The Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) has launched a scathing critique of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), accusing the regulator of breaching fuel import protocols to favour a group of Nigerian oil traders—an action the Chamber says has cost Ghanaian oil importers over $40 million in demurrage and associated losses.
CBOD, which represents Ghana’s major bulk oil importing companies, said the violations stem from the NPA’s repeated and arbitrary alterations to the official Laycan schedule—the structured timetable used to manage the berthing and unloading of petroleum cargo.
The Chamber contends that these changes are not only destabilising but are also engineered to benefit Nigerian oil traders who, having lost their market positions due to the operations of the Dangote Oil Refinery, are now operating in Ghana through politically connected intermediaries.
Nigerian traders granted unfair access
CBOD warns that these actions are distorting the country’s fuel import system and damaging the integrity of Ghana’s regulatory framework.
“This is a flagrant circumvention of established protocols for narrow, selfish interests,” the Chamber stated, warning that the practice threatens national energy security and undermines investor confidence.
Investigations by CBOD suggest that the Nigerian traders in question have gained undue access to berthing slots by invoking vaguely defined “emergency” needs, enabling them to bypass the structured Laycan process.
As a result, legitimate Ghanaian importers—also known as Bulk Import, Distribution, and Export Companies (BIDECs)—have suffered delays, financial losses, and reputational damage.
In the first half of 2025 alone, CBOD members were saddled with over $40 million in demurrage and related costs due to repeated disruptions to the Laycan schedule.
These delays, affecting up to ten cargoes at a time, caused cumulative holdups of approximately thirty days per incident. CBOD warned that these inefficiencies contributed between GH₵0.47 and GH₵0.60 per litre to rising fuel prices at the pump—a burden passed directly to Ghanaian consumers.
Laycan protocol in disarray
The Laycan schedule was designed as a collaborative tool, developed through multi-stakeholder engagement and managed by the NPA, to ensure predictability and efficiency in Ghana’s petroleum supply chain.
Yet in 2025, the schedule was revised more than four times in the first quarter and seven times in the second quarter, often without consultation.
CBOD described these changes as “arbitrary,” lamenting that the disruptions have rendered the schedule increasingly meaningless.
Even more troubling, CBOD revealed that—for the first time in the sector’s history—the second quarter Laycan schedule has now been extended into the third quarter, up to September 2025, plunging the industry into further uncertainty.
Despite CBOD’s repeated appeals to restore order, the NPA has failed to implement corrective measures.
A formal petition to the Presidency on June 12, 2025, prompted a directive from President John Mahama for the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition to intervene.
However, on June 23, the NPA defied the President’s instructions by authorising the berthing of the MT Marlin Ametrine, a vessel not on the approved Laycan list.
CBOD has condemned the move as a “serious affront to regulatory integrity,” stating that it sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the entire framework designed to safeguard Ghana’s fuel supply security.
Sector confidence wanes
Industry players are increasingly alarmed by the NPA’s conduct, with CBOD warning that the regulator’s inaction could cause irreparable harm to Ghana’s petroleum import system.
The Chamber’s position is clear: if order is not restored, more BIDECs may face financial collapse, and consumer fuel prices will remain artificially high due to inefficiencies and mismanagement.
CBOD has laid out urgent demands, including restrictions on BIDECs without assigned Laycan slots, mandatory consultations for any schedule revisions, and a more transparent emergency cargo protocol.
Crucially, the Chamber wants formal authority to coordinate and submit Laycan schedules—ensuring compliance and equity across the board.
“Our members cannot continue to operate in a climate of regulatory unpredictability and unfair competition,” CBOD said. “We are committed to a transparent, rules-based system that protects consumers and sustains investment.”
The ball now lies in the court of the Ministry of Energy and the NPA. With public trust eroding and operational costs skyrocketing, Ghana’s fuel sector stands at a crossroads between institutional accountability and systemic breakdown.
