Accra, June 9,GNA- Parliament on Thursday took the National Petroleum Authority Bill through the second reading. The Bill, which seeks to create a National Petroleum Authority to oversee the petroleum downstream sector, attracted the support of all parties in the House. It also seeks to establish a Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) that would pursue the objective of compensating Oil Marketing Companies for the difference in the cost of transporting petroleum products with a view to creating an enabling environment for equal pricing of products in the country.

According to the report of the Committee on Energy and Mines: "It would also set the ceiling on the price of petroleum products." Members agreed to effect the necessary amendments during the consideration stage to, among others, give a pivotal role to the Energy Commission in the Petroleum sector and keep the strategy stockpilling as a national security activity that would not be subjected to the whims of private companies.