Audit finds gaps in NPA's GH₵648.6m tank-gauging rollout as ACEP urges disclosure

Pinned summary · as of 16:26

The Auditor-General has found weaknesses in how the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) checked and paid for its Automatic Tank Gauging System, a fuel-monitoring scheme meant to cover 4,000 filling stations. The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) used the findings at a media workshop to press the regulator for fuller disclosure on its service contracts.

What we know

• The Auditor-General's performance audit found that the NPA's tank-gauging programme fell short on rollout, working condition and verification, against a payment total of about GH₵648.6 million to the contractor.
• The scheme sits under a contract valued at about US$90.7 million, which bundles installation with long-term operation and maintenance of equipment for 4,000 stations.
• By March 2026 the audit counted 3,443 systems in place, leaving 557 stations without one, and only 1,813 stations were fully automated.
• Of 23 installed units that auditors physically checked, 11 were not working.
• The audit found the NPA could not show that maintenance work was independently checked before it paid, and no maintenance reports for 2023 and 2024 were produced to auditors.
• Neither report says the audit proves the contractor was paid for work left undone; it also stops short of showing corruption or putting a value on any loss.
• Kodzo Yaotse, ACEP's policy lead, said the public should know who owns each firm supplying such services: “whether the card payment system or the fuel marking, we need to know who owns this business”.
• ACEP asked for greater disclosure of which firms win service deals in the petroleum sector, and of who ultimately owns them.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  ACEP's own assessment, as reported by NorvanReports, counted installations of 3,029 in 2023, then 276 in 2024, 128 in 2025 and just 10 from January to May 2026, against payments of GH₵255.3 million, GH₵199.6 million, GH₵87.7 million and GH₵106 million over the same periods. The Vaultz News did not carry these year-by-year numbers.
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  NorvanReports reported that the audit found premium RON 95 petrol dropped out of the National Petroleum Marking Scheme from 4 July 2025 after an internal directive, and that the NPA's own reconciliation put sales outside the scheme at 66.85 million litres in the second half of 2025. ACEP raised questions on whether the 9-pesewa-per-litre marking charge was still collected, and said an implied GH₵6.02 million would not prove it was collected or wrongly kept. This has not been reported elsewhere.
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  The Vaultz News reported that the audit found planned NPA monitoring activities down 19.82% between 2023 and 2025 while licensed retail stations rose 1.27%. The NPA blamed limited staff, competing priorities, training needs and security challenges, and said it now targets higher-risk stations.
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  The Vaultz News said the audit cited a complaint-led inspection at a GOIL station in Zuarungu, Bolgatanga, that found about 180 litres of water in an underground tank six days after products there passed marker tests in August 2023. It also cited unproven consumer complaints about substandard fuel at other stations.
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  The NPA's response is reported differently. NorvanReports said the authority earlier objected to reading the findings as proof of corruption or loss and wants its management responses included, while The Vaultz News said it acknowledged the findings and committed to act on the recommendations, which include finishing installations, repairing faulty units and tightening checks before payment.

Why it matters for Ghana

Fuel monitoring systems are meant to protect motorists from short measures and to help the state collect the right taxes on petrol and diesel. If a large share of gauges is missing or faulty, drivers in Accra, Kumasi and Bolgatanga have less protection, and a large payment without solid verification raises questions about value for public money. ACEP's call to publish contracts, payment schedules and verification reports would let Ghanaians judge how the regulator spends.