The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has vowed to clamp down on illegal tabletop sales of petroleum products in the Ashanti Region.

The NPA said with the new Executive Instrument C.I. 378, it has the mandate to prosecute people who engage in petroleum activities without a license.

It said it has identified some 80 outlets of these illegal activities in the region and is teaming up with security agencies to bring sanity to the industry.

The NPA stated that it cannot establish or guarantee the quality of such petroleum products, and has therefore cautioned the public to stop buying from these unlicensed outlets.

According to them, these unapproved petroleum products tend to damage vehicles and machines, and the NPA is sometimes blamed for this, hence the clamp down.

The Ashanti Regional Director for the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Betty Nana Adwoa Ofori, made the statement during a media engagement in Kumasi, on Monday, November 6, 2023.

The engagement was also soliciting media assistance on public education on the new NPA Executive Instrument C.I. 378 which gives the institution the power to prosecute petroleum offenders.

“One of the major challenges facing the petroleum industry in the Ashanti region is the selling of petroleum products in the region, so the NPA is collaborating with security agencies to cramp down on them,” Nana Adwoa Ofori said.

“Since the NPA cannot guarantee the quality of such petroleum products, being petrol or diesel, we are asking the public, especially the motorist not to patronize them”, she advised.

Betty Nana Adwoa Ofori urged motorists to buy petroleum products only from approved retail outlets.