Representative Musa Bility of Nimba County 7th District has detested Government of Liberia slashing of storage fees paid to Liberian terminal operators as a direct threat to local ownership and the survival of Liberian entrepreneurs in the petroleum sector.
The Liberian government is affecting changes to prices of goods and services in an effort to reduce costs being bore by Liberians. President Joseph Boakai recently announced the reduction in the prices of rice and flour following the submission of report by the special Taskforce constituted on July 26, headed by Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung.
In a September 9, 2025 statement, Representative Bility, who is the owner of Srimex, a gas and oil company, said he had been informed by the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) that storage fees would be reduced from thirty-five cents ($0.35) to just two cents ($0.02) per gallon.
According to him, new “technical” cost lines, which stand to benefit primarily from the change, were being created for LPRC.
“The intent of the Government’s action is to divert money away from Liberian terminal operators and redirect it to LPRC, with the intent to weaken Liberian ownership and silence Liberian innovation,” Bility said.
He added “The net effect is to effectively shut down Liberian-owned petroleum terminals and centralize power in the hands of a few. This decision not only threatens our energy security but also undermines Liberian jobs and families, as there is no way that terminal operators can remain in business if the Government carries out this action.”
Bility, who is the political leader of the Citizens Movement for Change (CMC), further stated that the new government’s policy sharply contradicts its role of creating an enabling environment for the private sector.
“The move would cripple entrepreneurs who had already invested millions of dollars in infrastructure, technology, and workforce to stabilize Liberia’s petroleum market,” the lawmaker argued. “These investments had provided jobs, ensured consistent fuel supply, and strengthened the economy.”
Bility stressed that the petroleum terminal business was one of the few sectors built and sustained entirely by Liberians, adding that no responsible government should “sacrifice its own citizens’ businesses under the pretense of price relief.”
He called on the Government to immediately halt this harmful maneuver, to engage in transparent consultations with terminal operators, and to ensure that any reform in the petroleum sector genuinely serves the Liberian people and the growth and development of the private sector, not political interests.
