The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has been cited by the Auditor-General for significant lapses in its petroleum product quality assurance system after an audit found that approximately 87 million litres of petrol were distributed without undergoing the mandatory petroleum marking process, exposing consumers to the risk of purchasing substandard fuel at retail outlets.
The audit also found that the lapses resulted in an estimated GH¢78.6 million loss to the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF), while raising concerns over possible tax revenue losses to the State.
The findings are contained in the Auditor-General’s Performance Audit Report on the operations of the National Petroleum Authority in ensuring the quality of petroleum products at retail outlets.
The report stated, “The NPA did not adequately carry out the marking and distribution of petroleum products. There were discrepancies between the volumes of petroleum products marked and those distributed. About 87 million litres of unmarked petrol were distributed between January 2023 and May 2026.”
“Therefore, there was no assurance that the product was of the desired quality at the pumps and that the appropriate tax on the sale of the unmarked product was collected by the State. Also, there was a loss of about GH¢79 million to the UPPF,” the Auditor-General stated.
The performance audit assessed the NPA’s operations between January 2023 and May 2026, focusing on the transportation and tracking of petroleum products, petroleum product marking and the monitoring of retail outlets.
According to the report, the petroleum product marking scheme was introduced under the National Petroleum Authority Petroleum Product Marking Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2187), to preserve and protect the quality and purity of petroleum products, detect and prevent adulteration and monitor fuel quality before petroleum products reach consumers.
To implement the programme, the NPA contracted Nationwide Technologies Limited (NTL) in 2019 to provide petroleum product marking services. Under the arrangement, petroleum products are marked after they are loaded onto Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) and before they are transported to retail outlets.
The Auditor-General explained that because petroleum products are marked immediately after loading into BRVs, the quantity marked is expected to correspond with the quantity eventually distributed to retail outlets.
However, an analysis of petroleum product marking and distribution records covering the period under review revealed several discrepancies.
According to the report, data obtained from the annual reports of the NPA’s Quality Assurance Directorate and the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) Secretariat showed that between 2023 and 2025, a total of 15.42 billion litres of petrol and diesel were marked, while 15.05 billion litres were distributed to retail outlets and bulk consumer sites.
The figures revealed a variance of approximately 362.56 million litres, representing 2.35 per cent of the total petroleum products marked during the period.
Management of the NPA explained that the differences resulted from variations in reporting classifications between the Petroleum Product Monitoring System (PPMS) and the UPPF Secretariat.
According to management, while the PPMS reported all petroleum products marked at depots, including diesel supplied to power plants, cell sites, rigs and subsidised users, the UPPF Secretariat reported only petroleum products that attracted UPPF margins.
The Auditor-General, however, noted that although management relied on the different reporting classifications to explain the variances, the Authority failed to provide data on the distribution volumes for some categories of diesel products, making it impossible to validate the explanation.
The report further analysed petrol volumes and found additional discrepancies between the quantities marked and those distributed.
It revealed that 638,500 litres of petrol were marked but not distributed in 2023 and 2024, while approximately 87 million litres of petrol were distributed in 2025 without being marked, contrary to the petroleum product marking requirements.
“From our analysis, the NPA paid Nationwide Technologies Limited a total amount of US$2,688.09 for a total volume of 638,500 litres of petrol that was marked, but not distributed in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, the NPA did not mark approximately 87 million litres of petrol, which was distributed, thereby exposing consumers to the risk of purchasing substandard fuel at retail outlets.
Also, there was a loss of about GH¢78.6 million to the UPPF in 2025 and a possible evasion of taxes on the unmarked volumes, resulting in revenue loss to the State,” the report stated.
The audit further revealed that both the NPA’s Quality Assurance Directorate and the UPPF Secretariat had instituted several control measures intended to ensure petroleum products were marked before distribution.
These included weekly and monthly reconciliation of marked volumes using data from the Enterprise Relational Database Management System (ERDMS), verification of contractor submissions against ERDMS records, review of marking certificates before approval, multi-level validation of marking data and legal review before payments were processed.
The UPPF Secretariat also vetted orders submitted by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to ensure they corresponded with orders captured in the ERDMS before petroleum products were loaded.
Despite these measures, the Auditor-General found that the existing controls were inadequate.
“The UPPF Secretariat and the Quality Assurance Directorate did not check whether the quantity loaded into the BRVs and marked corresponded with the quantity distributed. In addition, the Secretariat and the Directorate did not reconcile the data on the petroleum products marked and distributed,” the report observed.
The report attributed the discrepancies to the failure of the two units to reconcile petroleum product marking data with distribution records before products reached retail outlets.
To address the shortcomings, the Auditor-General recommended that the NPA’s Quality Assurance Directorate and the UPPF Secretariat strengthen collaboration to ensure consistency between the volumes of petroleum products marked and those distributed.
The report further directed the NPA to refund US$2,688.09, representing payment made for the marking of 638,500 litres of petrol that was not distributed, into the Auditor-General’s Recovery Account at the Bank of Ghana by December 31, 2026, and submit copies of the receipt to the audit team for verification.
Responding to the findings, management of the NPA maintained that the apparent variances arose primarily from differences in reporting classifications between the PPMS and UPPF datasets, as well as the approved suspension of marking differentiated Premium Motor Spirit (RON 95), which took effect on July 4, 2025.
Management nevertheless acknowledged weaknesses in its reconciliation processes.
“Management nonetheless acknowledged the need to improve reconciliation and reporting controls and committed to continue strengthening coordination between the PPMS and UPPF reporting processes. This would help ensure that future reports accurately reflect policy decisions, operational changes and data adjustments, thereby reducing the risk of misinterpretation,” the report stated.
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