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The Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited Company (BOST), Edwin Alfred Provencal is adjudged as the Petroleum Sector Chief Executive Officer of the Year, 2022 at the 6th Ghana Energy Awards.

Vice President, Dr Bawumia (In the middle), was there to grace the Ceremony

The Ghana Energy Awards is a prestigious award representing the only National award in the Ghana energy and petroleum industry.
The awarding panel takes into consideration the contributions of companies, agencies and individuals in the country’s energy and petroleum sector and bestows honours on those who distinguish themselves in their fields of endeavor.

The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman (On the right) and Managing Director with the certificate and prestigious plaque at the Ceremony

Among the companies and agencies that were nominated for various categories of honors under the GEA Awards included the National Petroleum Authority, NPA, Ghana Gas Company Limited, Petroleum Commission, Energy Commission, Bui Power Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana, Ghana Grid Company and other SOEs in the energy sector. Private companies like Bulk Oil Distribution Companies, Petrosol, and TotalEnergies, among others.

Pictorial presentations at the Award Ceremony

Sources close to the GEA and familiar with their judging criteria indicated the many possible reasons that tipped the scales in Mr. Edwin Provençal’s favour. The sources affirmed that the massive turnaround witnessed at BOST during Mr. Edwin’s stewardship from a loss-making entity to a profit making company and the revival of three defunct depots, reactivation of its petroleum product pipelines, and the resumption of marine operations on the Volta Lake were hinted to be among the reasons for the honour bestowed on Mr. Edwin Alfred Provencal as the CEO of the year for the Petroleum Sector.

Under his stewardship BOST paid off most its debts through internally generated funds and made a profit of Ghc160 million after audit by the Auditor General Department. After receiving the prestigious awards Mr. Edwin expressed gratitude to God and Country for the award and praised his staff and management team for their wonderful contributions towards this feat.

He promised that the team at BOST will leave no stone unturned in delivering the BOST mandate of providing fuel security for the nation. The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman, who witnessed the event further assured that the heat is on and that BOST is on track towards becoming a beacon of excellence in the running of State-Owned Enterprises in the country.
He was optimistic that BOST will become a household name when it comes to institutions that adhere to the positive emerging trends in corporate governance.

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Limited Company has held its maiden Annual General Meeting since its establishment in 1993.
The event, which took place at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, had many dignitaries gracing it with their presence.
The AGM also comes as a great achievement to the company, as it signifies a financial breakthrough from several years of indebtedness.

The Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who in his capacity as the sector minister is the authorized representative of the shareholder of BOST, applauded the company’s achievements over the years.
“I have had the opportunity to take a look at the state of the company in January 2017 from a copious report I received and was surprised at the financial and operational out-turns of the company for the year 2021 which report I believe shall be a cardinal part of this Annual General Meeting.”
He continued, “From a debt position of US$624 million owed suppliers and related parties, BOST has over the five years preceding the year in focus, 2021, paid US$611 million with IGF contributing about US$423 million. The BOST portion translates into an average of US$84.6 million of company generated cash per year being spent on debts accrued through the trading activities of the company in the past.”
He further congratulated the Board of Directors and management of the company for the financial performance in the year ended 2021.
“I am confident more can be achieved if the same momentum is sustained. A profit before tax of GH¢164 million from a previous year of GH¢2 million,” he added.
The Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, tasked the Board of Directors of BOST to work harder towards making the company a dividend-paying enterprise following this first AGM.
“BOST in 2021 made a turnaround from a heavy loss position of GH¢458.64 million in 2016 through a minimal loss of GH¢291.02 million in 2020 to a profit position of over GH¢160 million in 2021. I have learnt that this feat is the first in 11 years and I seize this opportunity to commend the current Board and Management for striving to attain this success. It is my fervent hope that Management will continue to tread this path to the extent of paying dividends to government, in accordance with the vision of the President.”
BOST achieved a net profit after income tax of GH¢160,718,361 for the financial year 2021 after all provisions. This compares to a loss of GH¢291,017,758 in 2020 which contained a provision of GH¢292,935,973 for deferred taxation, resulting from the revaluation of the company’s assets in that year.
Of greater significance is the increase in operational profit from GH¢1,918,215 in 2020 to GH¢163,871,810 in 2021.

BOST saw a significant improvement in its core business in 2021 with an overall increase in gasoline and gasoil sales revenue of 83%. Revenue from gasoline sales increased by 144% from GH¢140 million to GH¢341 million with diesel sales also increasing by 46% from GH¢227 million to GH¢331 million.
Revenue from our marine transportation business increased by 412% from the previous year’s revenue of GH¢2.9 million to GH¢14.9 million. This was mainly due to the full deployment of all four barges of the company after they had undergone extensive renovation. Storage and rack revenue also saw a steady growth of 4% from GH¢50.4 million to GH¢52.6 million.

• ENERGY MINISTER DECLARES AT AGM
• DR. MATTHEW OPOKU PREMPEH PRAISES MANAGEMENT FOR HUGE TURNAROUND

The government is to support the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Limited to hold strategic stocks to ensure fuel security.
As part of its mandate, BOST is expected to hold a strategic stock of not less than six weeks of national demand.
The state-owned company, however, is unable to fulfill this mandate due to the lack of resources, after the strategic stock levy was scrapped in 2008 to bring down the cost of ex-pump prices of petroleum products.
At the maiden annual general meeting of BOST, the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, said as part of the modalities under consideration, the government was working to ensure an efficient Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to complement the efforts of BOST.
He said TOR would be empowered to refine products and deliver same to BOST for storage and distribution.
That, he said, would ensure local petroleum product consumers were saved from the difficulty of high prices of products, due either to the desire to make profit or real global challenges.

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Energy, delivering his address at the BOST 2021 Annual General Meeting.

After 11 years of struggles, BOST posted profit after tax of GH¢160.7 million for the 2021 financial year, compared to a loss of GH¢291 million in 2020.
The company also saw improvement in its core business, with an overall increase in gasoline and gas oil sales revenue by 83 per cent.
Revenue from gasoline sales increased from GH¢140 million in 2020 to GH¢340 million in 2021, with revenue from gas oil also increasing from GH¢227m to GH¢331m in the same period.
Revenue from marine transportation also increased from GH¢2.9 million in 2020 to GH¢14.9m in 2021.
Dr Opoku Prempeh described the performance as one of the phenomenal corporate turnaround stories in the public sector over the past decade.
“I have had the opportunity to take a look at the state of the company in January 2017 from a copious report I received and was surprised at the financial and operational out-turns of the company for 2021.
“From a debt position of $624m owed suppliers and related parties, BOST has, over five years, paid $611m, with internally generated funds contributing about $423m,” he added.

The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman delivering his speech at the AGM.

The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman said the company’s revenue earning assets, which at a point declined to 34 per cent, had now increased to 95 per cent.
He said the restoration of part of the lost value of the BOST margin by the government in June 2021 had brought an element of financial stability to the company.
“This levy on petroleum price ensures that BOST can repair and maintain facilities in parts of the country such as Bolgatanga, Buipe, Savelugu and Akosombo, areas where private profit-oriented companies will not readily venture,” the chairman said.
He added that BOST had also regained the confidence of the financial community, with banks which had previously closed their doors to the company now welcoming it with credit lines and on more favourable terms.

The Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe

 The Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, described BOST’s achievement as phenomenal, saying to achieve that, his office, together with the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) and the Ministry of Finance, helped in building the capacity of board members and chief executive officers in good corporate governance programmes.
“We have also introduced the Public Enterprises League Table (PELT), which maiden edition was held on June 30 to engender competition among public enterprises.
“Among the 50 entities that were ranked, BOST came eighth, which is not surprising at all, given its demonstration of good performance and turnaround,” he said.
For his part, the Director-General of SIGA, Edward Boateng, said in spite of the pertaining fiscal and infrastructural challenges of BOST, there was still more room for improvement.
He said with innovative thinking, perseverance and teamwork from all stakeholders, more could be achieved.