Els: MBN360 News
The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC), Riverson Oppong, has warned of an imminent industry-wide strike over what he describes as an unlawful diversion of the Energy Liquefied Petroleum Gas (ELPG) fund.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (20 February), Oppong accused the Ministry of Energy and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) of breaching statutory operating procedures by directing funds from the ELPG account to the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC).
“The fund is not a bank to pre-finance anybody’s operations,” Oppong said. “For the minister to direct the NPA to release funds into the account of a manufacturing company without due process is wrong and unlawful.”
Oppong explained that the ELPG fund is a public levy paid by LPG consumers and is legally ring-fenced to finance LPG bottling infrastructure and the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM), a safety reform designed to reduce gas-related explosions.
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According to him, all disbursements from the fund are governed by strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which require companies to first invest, undergo verification, and only then receive reimbursement.
“Some companies waited two to three years after investing before they were reimbursed,” he said. “So how do you release money upfront to one company without any work done?”
Oppong disclosed that the matter was first raised at a Fund Management Committee meeting in January 2026, where it emerged that the NPA board had already approved the payment before bringing it to the committee.
“That defeats the whole purpose of having a fund management committee,” he added.
COMAC has formally demanded that the Ministry of Energy and the NPA reverse the payment back into the fund, warning that failure to do so could trigger industrial action that may disrupt LPG supply nationwide.
