The Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Hon. Boakye Agyarko has accused regulators at the National Petroleum Authority of creating a negative impression of the petroleum industry to Ghanaians.

In a speech read on his behalf by Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, the Deputy Energy Minister, he claimed the inability of regulators to implement safety regulations has projected the petroleum industry as an ‘insensitive’ and ‘irresponsible’ entity.

“In spite of the dangers of poor safety and regulatory regimes, our regulators continue to allow special interests to undermine their enforcement of safety regulations; putting the lives and property of people on the line; and consequently, projecting the petroleum industry as insensitive, irresponsible and only motivated by profits. Ladies and gentlemen, we must act now,” the Minister read.

“Industry players also tend to view regulators as unnecessarily holding them, and in many instances, have ignored many regulatory directives. Industry players must, therefore, live up to their responsibilities of protecting the very people who buy their products and patronize their services,” he added.

He encouraged industry players to ‘take the bold step of formulating industry safety standards through industry associations and peer review each other’. He added that, where necessary, these industry players should ‘delist peers who are not keeping up with their standards’.

This, he believed, would not only complement the role of regulators but also embolden them to take decisive disciplinary actions against offending industry players based on industry recommendations’.