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Ghana reduces sulphur specification in diesel to 500 PPM

Xinhua, October 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA), downstream petroleum regulator in Ghana, announced late Monday a 500 Parts Per Million (PPM) for sulphur content diesel to be sold in the country effective January 2017.

By this, the sulphur content in diesel to be sold in Ghana would have dropped from the current 3,000 PPM to 500 PPM.

"Additionally, all suppliers of fuel to Ghana are, by this revised specification, allowed to import diesel at 10 PPM or lower," Moses Asaga, Chief Executive Officer of NPA, said in a statement.

The revision, the statement said, was reached on Monday between the regulator and industry players after series of consultations.

A report, launched in Accra last month by Public Eye in collaboration with Ghana-based Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), accused Swiss commodity trading companies of delivering and selling diesel and gasoline in Africa that were damaging to people's health.

According to the report, which surveyed eight African countries including Ghana, the sulphur content of diesel samples in these countries was more than 300 times those of Europe and USA.

In a statement issued Monday night, ACEP lauded the NPA for its swift reaction, although it noted that 500 PPM is still too high considering the health implications.

"Whilst this represents significant improvement in the standards, ACEP believes that a bold decision to benchmark Ghana's standard against the European standard will most clearly define the leadership role NPA has taken and to accelerate sub-regional alignment to cleaner fuels," it said. Endit