Cylinder Re-circulation should not lead to price increases – Stakeholders

Stakeholders at a forum on the Cylinder Re-circulation Model (CRM) have appealed to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to ensure that the CRM does not lead to increases in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the country.

This formed part of the concerns raised by stakeholders at a forum on the CRM organised by the NPA in Tamale on Wednesday.

The forum offered NPA the opportunity to explain the National LPG Policy and the CRM to participants and to take their questions and suggestions, which would help shape the policy into one that would be acceptable to the consuming public.

The CRM is the implementation model for the National LPG Policy, and it is aimed at providing direction for marketing and distribution of LPG in a safe and efficient manner to facilitate an increase in access to LPG nationwide.

This will help achieve the policy goal, which is to ensure that at least 50 percent of the populace has access to safe, clean and environmentally friendly LPG for domestic, commercial and industrial usage by 2030.

The CRM involves filling of LPG cylinders at bottling plants and then supplying the filled cylinders to consumers at specialized retail outlets where consumers will have to exchange their cylinders for a filled one at the exchange point.

Other stakeholders at the forum demanded clarifications on how the recall of LPG consumers’ cylinders would be done, and how safety issues would be handled for the benefit of all.

Mr. Alhassan Tampuli, Chief Executive Officer of NPA said safety and job creation were high on the agenda of the government adding it culminated into the introduction and implementation of the CRM for LPG.



He said as part of plans to address safety and increase the consumption of LPG, “the policy implementors were developing a market-driven structure to ensure safety and increase access of LPG to 50 per cent by 2030” adding “It is also to ensure the existence of robust and standard health, safety and environmental practices in the production, marketing and consumption of LPG”.

He assured that “The relevant licenses will be issued and safety protocols will be keenly observed to ensure the safety of the good people of Ghana while increasing access to LPG for domestic, commercial and industrial use from the current 25 percent level to 50 percent by 2030.



He reiterated that the CRM would not lead to job losses emphasizing that “Direct job creation is estimated to be over 4,500 in relation to new jobs under the actors of the new value chain and door to door delivery service. This does not affect current jobs of LPG Bulk Transporters, LPG Bulk Distribution Companies, and LPG Bulk Storage companies”.

Mr. Gabriel Kumi, Vice Chairman of LPG Marketers Association called for increased education of the citizenry on how to use LPG to enable them to patronise the product.

Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Minister of Energy appealed to all to support the government to roll out the CRM to address issues of safety in the LPG sector as well as create more jobs.