Energy Consultant, Senyo Hosi, is calling for the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) margin to be scrapped.
To him, BOST operates as a business entity that charges for the use of its petroleum tanks.
To that end, he believes that there should not be too much subventions for BOST.
“I believe BOST margin should be scrapped. We have policies that force people to use t heir tanks, BOST charges commercial rates like everybody does for their services. So if they are running commercially, there is no reason to be subventing them too much.
“BOST has to be responsible about its dealing,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday April 18.
His comments add to the pressure on the government to scrap the BOST margin. For instance, energy think tank Centre for Environmental Management and Sustainable Energy (CEMSE) has called for the immediate removal of margins allocated to the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) in the petroleum price build-up.
It argued that BOST now operates as a fully commercial entity and generates adequate revenue from its core services, including storage, transportation, and terminal operations provided to private sector players in the downstream petroleum industry.
Executive Director of CEMSE, Benjamin Nsiah, alleged that the margin has become a source of operational income used for administrative expenses rather than infrastructure expansion and maintenance.
“BOST margin now becomes an operational income… to increase their wages and engage in frivolous expenditure because of the free money that consumers give them,” he said.
The call comes after Cabinet reportedly directed the Ministers of Finance and Energy to implement a temporary suspension of selected taxes and margins over an initial four-week period to ease fuel price pressures on households and businesses.
However, sector think tank the Institute for Energy Security (Institute for Energy Security) has cautioned against scrapping the BOST margin, warning that such a move could undermine fuel supply security and hinder infrastructure expansion in the downstream petroleum sector.
