Bulk Oil Storage & Transportation (BOST) Company Limited is undergoing a major transformation in its quest to make it a viable and profitable business enterprise. Our vision is to become the Preferred Provider of Oil and Gas Logistics in the country and elsewhere in the sub-region. As a private limited liability company with the Ghana Government as its sole shareholder, our financial and operational performance over the past several years have shown significant changes and reversal of operating losses to surpluses and achieving a positive shareholder’s equity position. These improvements in performance have been accomplished with the total support of the Board and Management.
Foremost, BOST will continue to aggressively pursue its most critical mandate as the custodian of strategic stock reserves for Ghana. To ensure national fuel security, BOST has embarked on a major infrastructure development program. 70,000 cubic meters of storage capacity for refined petroleum products will be added on-stream at our Accra Plains Depot (APD) by 2nd quarter of 2012 to bring our total storage capacity to 430,000 cubic meters. We will expect to break ground for the BOST Petroleum Terminal before year-end on our 300-acre Atwereboanda site for the construction of a 150,000 cubic meters storage facility, the largest petroleum terminal in the country. This expansion of network infrastructure will bring our total network storage to approx. 600,000 cubic meters (the equivalent of 12 weeks of national consumption).
The pipeline network will be boosted by the addition of twin pipelines between Tema and Akosombo by year-end. It is important for BOST to forge strategic alliances with our partners and customers in the land-locked countries in the supply and transportation of petroleum products to their markets. Hence, there is the need for BOST to increase our throughput capacity along the Eastern Corridor with the combination of pipeline and barge transportation on the Volta Lake to transport petroleum products to the North. BOST annual volume throughput could reach in excess of 1.8 billion liters with attendant improvement in network utilization.
BOST will prioritize the development and construction of a number of LPG satellite depots to ensure a long-term solution to the perennial LPG shortages in the country.
BOST will soon operate and maintain the National Gas Grid when it assumes its role as the Natural Gas Transmission Utility (NGTU) with completion of the Western Corridor Transmission System. In addition to the new mandate as the “GRIDCO” of natural gas, BOST will partner with a number of private investors to develop the Tema Gas Distribution network to support the burgeoning commercial and industrial users of natural gas.
Human resource is our most critical and vital asset and we must develop them to meet the changing needs of BOST. A new organizational alignment framework has now been introduced into the company where we expect to build a new BOST of highly motivated, fully trained group of well-paid employees. We will provide a safe and secure environment where each employee is committed to their job, is a team player, wants to contribute to BOST as an owner.
Finally, BOST will position itself to face the challenges of potential competition from its valued customers i.e. the bulk distribution companies (BDCs) and the reduction of Government involvement in energy sector institutions while taking full advantage of the emerging Oil and Gas industry.
The government of Ghana under the better for Ghana agenda BOST has been mandated by the Ministry of Energy to quickly consider the installation of LPG storage to augment the existing private sector
LPG Satellite Depots
Plans are underway to build three LPG depots at Savelugu (in the North), Kumasi ( in the middle) and Mami Water (in the east) to supplement the existing LPG storage depot in Tema (in the south) and the proposed BOST depot at Pumpuni (in the west). The three depots are planned to be completed in 2012 and altogether, these depots should move the supply constraints currently facing the country.
BOST Petroleum Terminal
An application has been submitted to the Ministry of Finance for BOST to benefit from the US$ 3 billion Chinese loan to build the BOST Petroleum Terminal at Pumpuni. A feasibility study for the project has been prepared and the major outstanding issues include the Restructuring ofBOST into a holding company, the Financial Restructuring of the company, an Owner’s Engineer and the finalization of the acquisition of the Pumpuni Land.
Other companies and institutions including the Canadian Commercial Corporation(CCC) continue to express interest in the project which is expected to be an export-oriented, world class terminal.
BOST should continue to work towards the selection of an able partner for the operation and marketing of the terminal as it would face very stiff competition from both local and well- established world-class oil marketers.
The commencement of oil production in Ghana has brought about changes in the mandate of state institutions and state-owned companies operating in the energy sector, among them, the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited, BOST. From its original mandate of managing Ghana’s strategic stocks of petroleum products, BOST is now expected to join other sister energy sector institutions to spearhead the country’s gas based industrialization. Over the initial phase of oil production, Ghana expects to produce about 120,000 barrels a day, then, the subsequent phase starting form 2014 will double the output to almost 250,000 barrels a day. All of that oil will come from just one field, out of several to be developed. BOST’s role in the big picture of transformation Ghana’s economy through the emerging oil industry is to transport the natural gas associated with the off-shore oil and gas production once the gas is piped on-shore. So bright is the promise of Ghana’s gas fortune that since commercial oil production started in December 2010, new discoveries of natural gas have been made even as further exploration activities continue. With increasing prospects of more discoveries, industry experts project that the volume of oil to be produced in Ghana could go up to between 500,000 and 1 million barrels a day in the near future. The sheer size of the potential gas reserves of the country is better appreciated when one considers that there is ten times much natural gas crude oil in the Jubilee field, and early indications are that the newly discovered Tweneboa field holds even a greater proportion of gas to oil. It is this massive volume of natural gas that the country is counting on to transform its economy from the current lower end middle income status into an economic giant in Africa and the world. “We are looking at both associated and non-associated gas. That can become a major driver of the economy. We see the gas powering our thermal plants, supplying industry and households with low cost electricity and further downstream, we can see a petrochemical industry developing.
In pursuit of its expanded mandate as a major player in the secondary gas sector, The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Ltd (BOST) is acquiring over 300 acres of land near Takoradi to serve as the hub for the transportation of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Ghana’s oil fields to support a renewed gas-based industrialization drive. The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company is completing feasibility studies to construct a modern gas transmission system to serve Ghana and its neighboring countries in support of its additional mandate to become the national transporter of natural gas. To start with, BOST will construct a gas terminal at Pumpuni, near Takoradi in the Western Region, and also develop the first phase of the Western Corridor Transmission System, all estimated to cost US $600 million, to start this year and end in 2013. The government will solely fund the project through bilateral arrangements. The multi-million dollar project will create thousands of jobs for Ghanaians and give meaning to the local content and local participation in the petroleum industry policy which aims at indigenizing the oil and gas industry. Right from the blast, the monumental project will generate jobs for artisans, metal fabricators, welders, carpenters, caterers, drivers, engineers, among others, Some of the major industries in the Western and Central Regions that can breathe a sigh of relief are the Abosso Glass Factory, the integrated alumina processing industry of which Sekondi will now be the hub, the Bokazo and Saltpond ceramic factories and the Nsuta manganese processing project. The gas processing plant is expected to produce dry gas for power generation, minerals processing and petrochemicals; natural gas liquids, as well as deliver LPG in volumes of about five times what is currently produced by the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).
In order to legitimize its role in the natural gas value chain, BOST’s mandate had to be expanded. In essence, what this means is that BOST would develop, build and manage the network of transmission pipelines we would need to move natural gas from its source to destinations such as markets and end users. For example, in the area of markets that we would be addressing, we are talking of power generation plants for electricity, minerals processing such as bauxite, manganese and iron ore and so forth that require natural gas. We’re also looking at using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas liquids derived from processing the natural gas to serve the petrochemical industry including fertilizer producers.” The company has built significant capacity from the early days of its establishment in 1993 when it started distributing refined petroleum products from its depots that are strategically located around the country. Up until 2001, BOST even announced petroleum prices on behalf of the government.
Our accomplishments have been that we have expanded from a level of about 20,000 cubic meters to 340,000 cubic meters in terms of storage capacity for our six depots. We also have pipelines of roughly 360km linking all the depots. We have built four barges about to be inaugurated to transport petroleum products on the Volta Lake through to the Northern Region as part of our distribution network. In a year, we can deliver up to a million metric tons of petroleum products through our network systems,” he said. For a country that has only one source of fuel supply, which is the Tema Oil Refinery, the strategic importance of BOST has never been underestimated by the authorities. And many analysts have lauded the vision of setting up the company to serve as a storage back-up for the country’s only refinery. It is common knowledge what will happen to regular fuel supply if there was not a company like BOST. Supply of petroleum products could be affected in three different ways: there could be industrial action at the oil refinery; there could be fire outbreak; or the plant may have to be shut down for routine maintenance. Without a BOST in Ghana, like some of her neighbours, Ghana would experience regular fuel shortages and motorists would have to endure long queues at fuel pump stations. Without BOST, even if Ghana got the oil for free there would be no place to store it. BOST has now built capacity to hold strategic reserves to meet about 6 weeks of national consumption of petroleum products and will increase this to 12 weeks in the medium to long term. Having successfully achieved its minimum target of 6 weeks of reserve capacity, Bost looks poised to take on its new additional role of becoming the logistics centre for moving the natural gas, once on-shore, to the various intended destinations. The whole idea is to be able to move the natural gas from sources such as Jubilee, Dzata and Sankofa fields to end users at the right time and to the right place at the lowest cost and in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. In addition, we will be able to store it and distribute it as and when its needed.
Funding is important to us. The funding requirement for natural gas investments is quite significant and we need to be able to partner with the right strategic partner or collaborators in order to achieve the targets we have. Firstly, the vision of the energy sector is to develop an energy economy and it means that we need to be able to ensure reliable and secure supply of energy services. Secondly, we want to become a net-exporter of petroleum products and electricity to the sub-region in the medium term so the country’s interest is to become the fastest growing destination for investments we are looking for relates to infrastructure development, which tend to be very capital intensive. We are talking of roughly US $500 million for just the Western corridor transmission system. BOST has a project that will integrate all our depots and we are talking of a petroleum terminal near Takoradi in the Western Region that would be a network of storage facilities. We require close to US$200 million for the project. These two projects are going to be a major flagship of our new mandate to move into the natural gas sector. One approach to raising funds for BOST projects is to depend solely on the public sector. This will take the form of bilateral arrangement between the Government of Ghana and any of the country’s development partner countries. We are now headed in a direction where we are going to look at the public-private partnership and bring in consortiums of technology providers or financiers who would be able to partner with us in some form to create a special purpose vehicle or joint ventures. We will ultimately have a hybrid of both public and private sector partnerships as we move forward. To enable BOST to attract suitable private partners, the government has put in the petroleum price build up, what it calls the BOST margin, which serves as some form of security for the company to borrow money commercially. BOST’s storage tanks could also be used as collateral security for any loan. We need investors who take a long term view of the projects they embark on. The reason is that , most of our projects are very capital intensive and require significant funding and resources in the area of technology. BOST would be able to provide investors with local knowledge and facilitate the investment in the country. It is important that investors consider value addition with local content in mind and ensure that they train and absorb local labour and develop local capacity.” It will take more than BOST to see Ghana’s gas –based industrialization materialized. Others such as the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, which represents Ghana’s oil interests in the Jubilee field, the Volta River Authority, the Energy Commission, private investors as well as the government of the day, all have very important roles to play.
The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) is in the final laps of preparations to construct the largest petroleum terminal and strategic depot in the country that will create 500 new permanent jobs.
The US$200-million BOST Petroleum Terminal to be sited at the coast of Atwereboanda in the Pumpuni Traditional Area of the Ahanta West District, Western Region, will be linked with rail wagons, offshore pipelines and other transmission devices to receive and transmit processed natural gas from the Jubilee Field.
The Managing Director of BOST, Dr YawAkoto, said the Pumpuni Terminal would be the biggest strategic petroleum depot in the country and was intended to be the petroleum hub for West African.
DrAkoto disclosed this on March 15 when he led a delegation to pay a courtesy call on the Ahanta West District Coordinating Council as well as the chiefs and people of Pumpuni, the people who have willingly given their land for the project.
BOST said it would work closely with the community to design programmes to develop the skills of the people of the area for some of the high-end jobs such as oil terminal management and logistics, adding that the company would also support schools in the area to improve on the quality of education of that area.
“We want to be the hub and provider of oil and gas services in West Africa and we will want to partner the Western Region and the Ahanta West District in our quest to provide these services. Site preparations will start in the third quarter of this year and the project should take two years to complete,” DrAkoto explained.
BOST has already received an Executive Instrument from the government to acquire a 300-acre plot located on the Pumpuni reef for the state-of-the-art petroleum terminal which will include a dispatch centre to link to a transmission network for the distribution of processed natural gas from the Jubilee field and other newly discovered fields.
BOST has already completed the payment of compensation for economic crops on the land three years ago.
“The company is committed to ensuring that it offers fair compensation for the land that it has acquired and we will also continue with our corporate social responsibilities which we have done in other communities where we have depots,” the BOST managing director assured the chiefs and people.
The District Chief Executive for Ahanta West, Mr Joseph Dofoyena, said the district coordinating Council was aware of the project and had already started sensitising the people of the area to be respectful, law abiding and not ferment trouble.
He said in view of the rush for land in the area, the district had gone ahead to map the area and generated designs which it wanted developers to fit in.
MrDofoyena said his team would work with that of BOST to make the project fit into the design for the District and would also support the entire process to ensure that the project came into fruition.
Elders of the community took turns to thank BOST for selecting the area to site the project, dding that they would support it wholeheartedy.
They, however, appealed to the government, particularly to BOST to keep its pledge to develop the skills of the people so that they could easily be integrated in upcoming turn-key projects of the kind BOST was embarking upon.
Some youth in the community indicated to the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in an interview that they were readying themselves in anticipation of getting jobs in the oil and gas sector which was fast opening up the Western Region to investors.
One young man, Mohammed Yankey, already had skills in sand blasting, sand writing and spraying and had gone ahead to register a formal company to start business.
Another young man, Solomon Cudjoe, was an apprentice driver who was learning to drive and operate trucks and earthmoving machines.
BOST presented some food items to the community as a token to cement their already cordial relationship.
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BOST’s new security plan saves millions of cediS; THE Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) has rolled out a high level security control plan for all of its depots and transmission lines to protect life and property.
The measures, which is being implemented on pilot basis at its Kumasi depot, has helped the national transmitter of petroleum products to save a minimum of 10,000 litres of fuel a week through the banning of ‘jerry cans’ into BOST depots alone, while siphoning on the Tema-Akosombo Petroleum Line and other forms of pilferage are virtually nil.
The security breakthrough also arms BOST, which has been assigned the responsibility to transmit natural and processed gas from the Jubilee field, with the necessary institutional knowledge and capacity to ensure the security of the country’s natural gas resource.
The Managing Director of BOST, Dr Yaw Akoto, told the Daily Graphic in Accra today that in addition to the measures, the Office of the National Security Co-ordinator, has deployed an all-day, all week round high optimum security presence on the Tema-Akosombo Petroleum Pipeline, where BOST had experienced some losses.
He said the security measures were taken to reduce product losses and protect the lives of tanker drivers, BOST workers as well as the general public.
He said the Kumasi Depot was currently being used as a pilot and the success chalked so far had necessitated expansion to other control rooms of the company.
The up-scaled security measures include the development of security checklists and handbooks for staff, tanker drivers observe security measures right from entry into the depot until they left loaded with products, a 24/7 security presence operated by a private security company. Also mobile phones are not allowed in the depots by customers and tanker drivers.
Dr Akoto said the security patrol on the transmission lines would be expanded to the Accra Plains Depot would come on stream by the second quarter of this year.
“The rate of theft at the Kumasi depot is virtually nil and we will duly replicate this system across all our operational areas,” he stressed, adding that “I am happy that security consciousness is heightened to the extent that staff and visitors to the premises are now mindful of things they do at the depots and how they do them.”
He added with the kind of awareness created for all BOST stakeholders “our personnel don’t also compromise on security measures and all tanker drivers subject themselves to all the security procedures to ensure their own safety.”
The BOST managing director said repair works were currently on-going along the Tema-Akosombo transmission line where about four punctures had been detected.
Dr Akoto was grateful to the national security apparatus, particularly the National Security Co-ordinator, Col (retd) Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, for his personal role in ensuring security along the lines.
