Deputy Minister Grilled in Parliament Over Petroleum Price Hikes

Linda Akrasi Kotey

As has been the case when Ministers appear before the house for the first time, the deputy Energy Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Buah took his turn yesterday when the minority heckled him to the extent that the chair had to intervene on his behalf.

The minority consistently heckled the deputy Minister to the extent that even the Speaker’s intervention on some occasions could not deter them. Every single word uttered by the Minister was responded to by the minority side, with the back benchers being the worse culprits.

This tussle intensified when the deputy Minister admitted that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt was among the reasons that led to the 30% increase in the petroleum taxes recently. The minority did not take the answer lightly and insisted that that the Minister should give a detailed answer than what he was telling the house. The echoes from the back benchers was that the Minister should "Go and Learn", before coming to the house again.

The whole confusion started when the MP for Nkoransa North, Mr. Ampofo Twumasi, asked the Minister for Energy what price build up informed the recent 30% price increase of petroleum products. The Minister told the house that the 30% increase in the price of petroleum products was informed by the upward movement of landed petroleum products during the review period conducted by the National Petroleum Authourity (NPA).

He explained that the NPA’s pricing formula for the ex pump prices of petroleum products are; Ex Pump Price = import parity landed price + government taxes and levies + distribution margin.

According to him, the NPA was established by Act 691 as an independent body to regulate, oversee and monitor activities in the petroleum downstream industry.

He said the act empowers the NPA to publish ex refinery prices and ex pump price of petroleum products based on the prescribed petroleum pricing formula.

The Minister turned in a paper to the house, which he claimed would assist members to appreciate what he is talking about and easy understanding of the technical matters.