The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in collaboration with the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has already initiated steps to review the national standards, which will reduce the maximum allowable manganese level in regular gasoline from 18mg/lto6mg/l and premium gasoline grade from 18mg/l to 2mg/l. 7, the NPA has stated.
The authority has therefore stated that pending the completion of the review process, it has directed that all new gasoline imports should comply with the proposed manganese standards of 6mg/l for regular gasoline and 2mg/lfor premium gasoline grade.
The NPA has therefore assured the petroleum product consuming public that it is committed to protecting their interests.
This was contained in a public statement issued by NPA’s Corporate Affairs Department dated 16th November, 2023 in response to Customer Complaints about reduced performance of gasoline vehicles.
The NPA stated that it has received complaints from some petroleum product consumers about the reduced performance of their vehicles which they attribute to fuel that they have purchased at some retail stations in Ghana. The NPA says that it investigated these complaints and noted that all fuel consumed in the country meets the national standards for fuel specification set by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).
They stated that the Ghana motor gasoline standard (GS140:2022) allows for some level of trace metals such as manganese up to 18 milligrams per litre (mg/l).
“Hitherto, fuels that were imported into the country had much lower levels of manganese. However, in recent times, the fuels that have been imported have contained levels of manganese closer to the maximum allowable limit.
“That some car manufacturers particularly turbo engine vehicles, recommend the use of gasoline that does not contain harmful manganese-based fuel additives. For example, the Honda CRV 2017 Manual,” the NPA stated, noting that all the complaints that have come are from users of gasoline vehicles that are in the category of vehicles mentioned.
