Gold-for-oil: Government bought oil from Russia’s Lethasco SA, not UAE – COPEC

An energy policy analyst has disclosed that the government’s 40,000 metric tons of oil as part of the ‘Gold for Oil’ deal was procured from a Russian-based Oil Trading Company (OTC) by the name of Lethasco SA and not from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as said earlier by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Mr. Benjamin Nisah, the head of research at the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), made this revelation while reacting to the Deputy Minister for Energy, Mr. Andrew Egyapa Mercer, who said that the government used cash for the first batch of the Gold for Oil deal instead of gold.

Mr. Nsiah spoke on the 6 p.m. evening news on Accra 100.5 FM on Thursday, February 2, 2023.

He said the Gold-for-Oil deal is not the way to go, adding that the deal cannot resolve the country’s petroleum problems.

He said this is so because the price of oil is determined by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on the international oil market.

He explained that even if the country had to use gold to purchase oil, it still had to purchase it on the international market.

He was convinced that the Gold-for-Oil deal was not the best way to reduce gasoline prices at the pump.

He stated unequivocally that the country’s ability to refine its own crude oil could lower gasoline prices.