Africa-Press – Liberia. Senator Moye pointed out that the current arrangement has allowed private companies to accumulate significant wealth, calling it a result of administrative lapses on the part of LPRC.
Senator Prince Moye, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways, Means, Finance and Budget, has raised concerns over what he describes as an unfair petroleum pricing structure that is enriching private tank owners at the expense of ordinary Liberians.
During a Senate debate on a report from a Joint Committee investigating petroleum pricing at the Liberia Petroleum and Refining Company (LPRC), Senator Moye criticized the inclusion of a US$0.35 bulk storage fee per gallon of petroleum products sold in the country.
He said the charge benefits private tank owners operating on LPRC premises while imposing additional financial burdens on consumers.
Senator Moye pointed out that the current arrangement has allowed private companies to accumulate significant wealth, calling it a result of administrative lapses on the part of LPRC. He accused the state-owned company of abandoning its core responsibilities and creating conditions for profiteering by a few individuals.
“The LPRC has not done the Liberian people justice to have set storage fees at US$0.35. This is unfair, and that’s why we have seen private tank owners become millionaires in our small economy at the detriment of ordinary Liberians,” Moye said.
He described the situation as a disservice to the Liberian people, noting that importers of petroleum products are not utilizing LPRC’s storage facilities, yet consumers are still paying the high storage charge. S
Senator Moye said reducing the storage fee by at least US$0.05 could generate up to US$6.5 million annually for the National Road Fund, enabling the construction of roads across Liberia’s 15 counties and improving economic conditions.
He further argued that the LPRC was never intended to create additional hardship for citizens, and criticized the company for not conducting a thorough assessment before allowing private storage tanks to be constructed on its premises.
“If action is not taken to remove the US$0.35 charge per gallon, Liberians will continue to be exploited,” he warned. “The LPRC should be made to account for this hardship placed on the Liberian people. It is wrong to pass a bulk storage charge to benefit a few private tank owners while citizens suffer.”
The report from the Joint Committee—which includes members from Committees on Judiciary, Public Corporations, Commerce, Hydrocarbon, Energy, and Environment — uncovered several concerns related to the petroleum pricing formula.
The report found that the current financing cost charged to importers is excessive and should be reduced. It also noted that the evaporation rate of petroleum products, currently set between 1% and 1.5% of landing costs, is too high and not independently verified.
The report estimated total evaporation losses at 1,083,085 gallons, broken down as follows: 563,408 gallons of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 452,634 gallons of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), 16,486 gallons of Jet A-1, and 50,557 gallons of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO).
According to the findings, evaporation is monitored solely by LPRC employees and has never undergone independent auditing. The report called for external verification of evaporation figures, petroleum quantities imported, and product quality.
It also highlighted that private tank owners receive the same US$0.35 per gallon storage fee as the LPRC, while the company’s regulatory, testing, jetty maintenance, and vessel discharge charges are not accounted for separately. Instead, all these are included in the bulk storage fee, which the report says is the highest in the region and possibly in the world.
For comparison, the report stated that global industry storage charges are below US$0.05 per gallon. In Sierra Leone, storage charges are US$0.013–0.015 per gallon, while in Nigeria, it is roughly US$0.0064 per gallon.
The report argued that since the US$0.35 storage charge amounts to a public fund, it should be redirected to benefit the country.
The committee made several recommendations, including revising the petroleum pricing formula by the LPRC and the Ministry of Commerce, and reducing the financing cost to 1% of the CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) value. It also recommended cutting the evaporation charge to 0.25% and reversing the most recent petroleum price increases.
Another key recommendation was that the additional US$0.05 added to the storage charge in May should be redirected to the Road Fund, thereby increasing the road fund levy to US$0.35 per gallon. With approximately 130 million gallons imported annually, this would generate an estimated US$6.5 million, which should be equally divided among the 15 counties for road development.
The committee also recommended that LPRC’s specific services be broken out and priced individually in the formula: Jetty Maintenance at US$0.14, Testing and Handling at US$0.14, and Independent Inspectorate services at US$0.11. It further advised that the government support LPRC to re-enter the importation, storage, and sale of petroleum products to help stabilize the market.
Meanwhile, the Liberian Senate has mandated the Joint Committee to continue its investigation, including conducting a full audit of the LPRC’s storage charge activities.
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