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BOST sets ambitious expansion target for this year

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) is planning to lay new pipelines in the country as part of a strategy to expand its operations.

The Managing Director of BOST, Edwin Provencal, said one of the proposed lines earmarked for short term construction would be between Accra and Kumasi to improve the turnaround time and cost of delivery of products.

“In the long term the company is considering more pipelines. We hope to be at Bolgatanga , we hope to have another pipeline close to the border with Burkina Faso and hope to have another pipeline from Accra to Takoradi and then from Takoradi to Kumasi”, he said.

Mr Provencal revealed this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times on the company’s operational efficiency and growth strategies for this year and beyond.

BOST already has a network of storage and pipeline infrastructure throughout the country with six depots nationwide located in the Accra Plains, Mami Water, Akosombo, Kumasi, Buipe and Bolgatanga.

The pipelines link the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to the Accra Plains Depot which in turn is linked to the Mami Water Depot and ends at the Akosombo Depot in the Eastern Region.

Mr Provencal said the company would push its existing product into new markets and improve on its exports inflows and had therefore fixed its pipeline connecting Bolga to Buipe.

“We have also fixed our marine assets so that once the products get to Akosombo it goes through the lake and then to Buipe and then pipeline to Bolga and then to the landlord countries”, he said.

As part of its expansion strategy, Mr Provencal said, the company would venture into the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) business in its bid to increase its product lines.

Touching on the judgment debt, he said the company would be vigilant in the signing of contracts to avoid disputes and financial loss to the state, having learnt from the mistakes of previous managers of the company.

“Going forward, we are going to go into contracts with our eyes wide open, and make sure we get value for money so that the contract would speak for itself and not try to miss emotions with the contracts we get into.

“Anytime we do that, the country and the company would lose. So that is how we hope to manage these contracts to the mutual benefits of both parties”, he said.

Mr Provencal said BOST made profits last year, as an audited account showed that the company made about two million cedis of profit from its underlying business.

“That is an improvement on the previous year where we made losses and so we are turning around the corner and sure the future looks very bright because this year we definitely will make some profit. They are not that much back coming on the back of losses in the past two years, we think it is a great performance.

 “We are going to sustain this performance because we are still on the operational efficiency pillar. We have quite a chunk of projects ongoing and I’m sure by the time those assets are completed, from work in progress to full operations, it would contribute to the fortunes of the company better,” he said.

BY DAVID ADADEVOH

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