The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced that Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) will resume its monitoring operations of the Downstream Petroleum sector starting June 14, 2024.
This directive follows President Akufo-Addo’s instructions based on a KPMG report, as stated in a GRA communication dated June 12, 2024, to Bulk Oil Distributors.
In the statement, GRA emphasized the necessity of this directive, noting, “Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) has been directed to resume its monitoring operations of the Downstream Petroleum sector with effect from June 14, 2024, in accordance with the Presidential Directives on the KPMG report.”
The GRA further elaborated that SML is tasked with ensuring all systems are operational and comply with relevant standards to provide accurate and reliable monitoring services, thereby supporting revenue assurance.
Bulk Oil Distributors have been urged to cooperate with SML to facilitate a smooth resumption of the monitoring activities.
Simultaneously, the Ministry of Energy, in a statement dated June 20, 2024, revealed that new standards for measurements in the oil and gas sector have been developed in collaboration with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Ministry of Trade, and other stakeholders.
These standards are based on the Singaporean Standard and employ the Coriolis mass flow metering system.
The Energy Ministry stated, “The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Trade and Industries, and other relevant stakeholders, has developed new standards for measurements in the oil and gas sector based on the Singaporean Standard. The Minister for Trade and Industry has declared these standards operational and mandatory.” All entities involved in measurements for revenue assurances in the oil and gas sector must adhere to these new standards.
The directive for SML to resume operations comes after an audit conducted by KPMG, commissioned by President Akufo-Addo on January 2.
The audit aimed to review the contract between GRA and SML, highlighting significant financial transactions and payments to SML.
According to the report, SML received a total of GH¢1,061,054,778.00 from 2018 to date. This includes GH¢454,860,396.27 for transaction audit and external price verification payments and GH¢945,342,007.29 for downstream petroleum measurement payments.
The KPMG report also revealed that the total investment value in the contracts for transaction audit, external price verification services, and downstream petroleum audit services amounts to US$44,044,180.00. However, KPMG noted that SML did not provide the GRA with supporting documents or relevant information to verify these investments made from 2018 to 2023.
KPMG recommended that GRA verify the investment of any of the services that were provided by SML.
Regarding the downstream petroleum audit services, KPMG determined that there was an incremental volume of 1.7 billion litres and an incremental tax revenue of GHS 2.45 billion for the period under review.
“There were also qualitative benefits, including a 24/7electronic real-time monitoring of the outflow and partial monitoring of inflows of petroleum products at depots where SML had installed flowmeters,” the report added.
The downstream petroleum sector refers to the final stage in the petroleum industry, where refined petroleum products are distributed and sold to consumers.
This sector includes activities such as refining, storage, transportation, and marketing of petroleum products. Examples of downstream activities include operating refineries, distributing fuels to gas stations, and selling petroleum products to end-users like consumers and businesses.
