The Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company, Mr Edwin Alfred Provencal at the end-of-year media engagement has outlined some concerns of BOST which inure to the benefit of every Ghanaian when they are addressed.
According to him, every Ghanaian stands to benefit from the operations of BOST when the company is retooled with adequate support from the right shareholders to make its work become very effective.
In an interview with Peacefmonline.com, Mr Edwin Provencal said that the price build-up has transportation cost and so when BOST works very well, the transportation will be efficient and bring lower cost and lower taxes to the consumer.
He noted that BOST being a state agency can partner other agencies like Go Energy and GOIL to import products in volumes as they together carry about more than half of the market in the industry to impact positively on the taxpayer who buys fuel every day.
“When BOST works very well, BOST is a state agency and it can partner other agencies like Go Energy and Goil and together, we carry about more than half of the market in the industry. So when we come together and we import products, with those volumes, we will benefit from the economics of scales. Those economies of scales can eventually impact positively on the taxpayer who buys fuel every day,” he explained.
He further indicated that BOST will be able to achieve its mandate in terms of petroleum security when it works very well; thus, when the company has a lot of fuel in the system, whenever prices go up, BOST can still cushion the Ghanaian taxpayer.
“ . . when BOST works very well, our mandate in terms of petroleum security will be achieved. That means that we will have a lot of fuel in our system. If we have a lot of fuel being stored, at the juncture when prices go up we can still cushion the Ghanaian taxpayer. When prices go down, we can still reap the thing back because the market is that there are ups and downs. When BOST works very well, we will be able to cushion the taxpayer when prices go up,” he articulated.
Highlighting on the way forward to make BOST work effectively, the Managing Director of BOST said that the company needs the support of the right stakeholders, efficient regulation and access to funds to make the company work very well to inure to the benefit of the taxpayer.
“What we need to make BOST work very well is the support of the right stakeholders. It is true we got an increased in BOST margin, but the increase was not what we asked for. So, if we are to get to that point in 1 year, it will take us about 4 to 5 years to get to that point”.
“Another point is regulation; if we are regulated efficiently enough, we will get there quicker. Access to funds is another way to make BOST work very well. Access to funds is the function of so many things; it is the function of management capability, balance sheet, the trust the owners of surplus cash have for you; today, we are not there yet”.
“We are on a journey; we hope to get there quicker and if we get there quicker, we may have access to the right partners, the right institutions to give us the needed funds to grow this entity we call BOST. I believe within the next two to three years we should be there but we can get there faster,” he noted.
