The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in collaboration with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has initiated steps to review the national standards for gasoline
The review will reduce the maximum allowable manganese level in regular gasoline from 18mg/l to 6mg/l, and premium gasoline grade from 18mg/l to 2mg/l.
A statement issued by the Corporate Affairs Directorate of NPA indicated that pending completion of the review process, NPA has directed that all new gasoline imports should comply with the proposed manganese standards of 6mg/l for regular gasoline and 2mg/l for premium gasoline grade.
The NPA has received complaints from some petroleum product consumers about the reduced performance of their vehicles, which they attribute to fuel they purchased at some retail stations in Ghana.
The statement said the Authority has investigated those complaints.
It said all fuel consumed in the country meets the national standards for fuel specification set by the GSA.
“The Ghana motor gasoline standard (GS 140:2022) allows for some level of trace metals, such as manganese, up to 18 milligrammes per litre (mg/l),” it said.
The statement said, hitherto, fuels that were imported into the country had much lower levels of manganese.
However, in recent times the fuels which have been imported contained levels of manganese closer to the maximum allowable limit.
The statement noted some car manufacturers, particularly of turbo-engine vehicles, recommend using gasoline that does not contain harmful manganese-based fuel additives. For example, the Honda CRV 2017 Manual.
It said all the complaint which had come were from users of gasoline vehicles in the category of vehicles manufacturers recommended using gasoline that does not contain harmful manganese-based fuel additives.
NPA assures the petroleum product-consuming public that it is committed to protecting their interests.
