Gas shortage: Any solution in sight? (Spread)
Users of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes may heave a sigh of relief following an assurance by the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) that it would take delivery of gas yesterday.
The relief may, however, be short-lived, since the 5,000 metric tonnes of gas expected cannot be enough for a nation whose LPG requirement is in excess of the supply.
But TOR officials have assured the public that another consignment of 6,000 metric tonnes was expected 48 hours after the first delivery.
They are also confident that the two consignments will be augmented with additional supplies from the refinery to make LPG shortage throughout the country a thing of the past.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview, the acting Managing Director of TOR, Dr Kwame Ampofo, confirmed that there had been shortage of the product on the market, adding that the leaking supply pipelines which hindered the discharge of the product from a vessel last Wednesday was partly responsible for the shortage.
He said the supply lines had been changed entirely and with that TOR now had the capacity to receive petroleum cargo without any hindrance.
Dr Ampofo was not happy that the nation had been hit by shortage of the product and gave the assurance that with TOR on the verge of completing repair works on its Residual Fuel Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), the nation would soon find all the petroleum products flooding the market.
Meanwhile, users of gas, particularly taxi drivers, have queued at gas filling stations in parts of Accra in anticipation of gas, report Seth J. Bokpe & Valentina Jovanovski.
The taxi drivers said they had not been able to work since there was shortage of gas.
According to them, they faced the problem of supporting their families, since they had not been able to work.
They also said they used LPG, instead of petrol, because it was less expensive and expressed the opinion that switching to petrol would significantly cut down their profits.
At the Amoh Gas Limited station at Achimota-Apenkwa, there was a long queue of gas cylinders waiting to be filled.
The attendant at the station, Mr Richard Adjei, said the station had run short of gas since last Thursday.
He said he had spent the whole day at TOR and had expected to get the gas supply back by Tuesday but he had been told he would have to wait until Wednesday.
Considering the uncertainty over when the gas supply would be restored, Mr Adjei added, “We do not know if Wednesday is the D-day.”
The situation was not any different at the Teshie Star Gas Filling Station.
The manager told the Daily Graphic in an interview that he had been out of stock for about a week, adding that he expected new delivery on Tuesday but, unfortunately, things did not work out as he had hoped.
At Anasset Gas, located at Awudome, the sign “We are sorry, no gas” was boldly displayed outside the station.
The manager, who spoke to the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity, said the station ran out of gas on Friday but it had vehicles at TOR, ready to be filled with gas the moment it was available.
“The only information we have received so far from our representative there is that a ship has arrived with gas,” he said.
The Go Gas LPG Filling Station at Kawukudi in Accra had not had any gas for the past two weeks, according to a group of taxi drivers who had been waiting at the station every day for two weeks.
No attendants or workers for the gas company were present at the station for comment.
The relief may, however, be short-lived, since the 5,000 metric tonnes of gas expected cannot be enough for a nation whose LPG requirement is in excess of the supply.
But TOR officials have assured the public that another consignment of 6,000 metric tonnes was expected 48 hours after the first delivery.
They are also confident that the two consignments will be augmented with additional supplies from the refinery to make LPG shortage throughout the country a thing of the past.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview, the acting Managing Director of TOR, Dr Kwame Ampofo, confirmed that there had been shortage of the product on the market, adding that the leaking supply pipelines which hindered the discharge of the product from a vessel last Wednesday was partly responsible for the shortage.
He said the supply lines had been changed entirely and with that TOR now had the capacity to receive petroleum cargo without any hindrance.
Dr Ampofo was not happy that the nation had been hit by shortage of the product and gave the assurance that with TOR on the verge of completing repair works on its Residual Fuel Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), the nation would soon find all the petroleum products flooding the market.
Meanwhile, users of gas, particularly taxi drivers, have queued at gas filling stations in parts of Accra in anticipation of gas, report Seth J. Bokpe & Valentina Jovanovski.
The taxi drivers said they had not been able to work since there was shortage of gas.
According to them, they faced the problem of supporting their families, since they had not been able to work.
They also said they used LPG, instead of petrol, because it was less expensive and expressed the opinion that switching to petrol would significantly cut down their profits.
At the Amoh Gas Limited station at Achimota-Apenkwa, there was a long queue of gas cylinders waiting to be filled.
The attendant at the station, Mr Richard Adjei, said the station had run short of gas since last Thursday.
He said he had spent the whole day at TOR and had expected to get the gas supply back by Tuesday but he had been told he would have to wait until Wednesday.
Considering the uncertainty over when the gas supply would be restored, Mr Adjei added, “We do not know if Wednesday is the D-day.”
The situation was not any different at the Teshie Star Gas Filling Station.
The manager told the Daily Graphic in an interview that he had been out of stock for about a week, adding that he expected new delivery on Tuesday but, unfortunately, things did not work out as he had hoped.
At Anasset Gas, located at Awudome, the sign “We are sorry, no gas” was boldly displayed outside the station.
The manager, who spoke to the Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity, said the station ran out of gas on Friday but it had vehicles at TOR, ready to be filled with gas the moment it was available.
“The only information we have received so far from our representative there is that a ship has arrived with gas,” he said.
The Go Gas LPG Filling Station at Kawukudi in Accra had not had any gas for the past two weeks, according to a group of taxi drivers who had been waiting at the station every day for two weeks.
No attendants or workers for the gas company were present at the station for comment.
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