Fuel prices to go up by over GH¢1 per litre soon

It appears the woes of fuel consumers are not yet over, as the price of the commodity is tipped to increase by about 12 percent in the next pricing window of June 2022.

This would mean that the average price of fuel is likely to increase by about GH¢1.33 per litre.

While petrol prices are projected to go up by GH¢1.24/litre which is an 11.41% increase, the price of diesel may increase by GH¢1.43/litre depicting a 12.93% increase.

The latest press release by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC), explained what is accounting for the anticipated price hikes.

“Current Crude prices are at $124.96/barrel, resulting in processed Petroleum Products of $1,451.25/MT of petrol and $1,289.97/MT for diesel, coupled with further depreciation of the exchange rate of $1:GH¢8.0483 and the government’s applicable tax rebate of 15 pesewas per litre still in place till the end of June 2022”.

The average price of petrol and diesel at the pumps currently stands at GH¢12.282 after selling at about GH¢6.5 in January.

This was after petrol and diesel crossed the GH¢10 and GH¢12 per litre marks this month.

Already, there are hints of another likely increment in transport fares after an earlier increment by 20 percent.

What could be the way forward with the situation as there is no end in sight with global oil prices continuing to soar?

Head of Research at COPEC, Benjamin Nsiah recommended that “Tema Oil Refinery must be retooled, recapitalised and equipped with efficient managers to make the entity start operations and be profitable. We also must diversify our imports within the short and medium-term. This means we need to begin to explore other countries, refineries and traders that will give us cheaper products compared to what we are getting now from the European and Arab areas”.

“The Ministry of Trade, finance and the Bank of Ghana need to implement a coordinated plan to help the cedi appreciate against the dollar. When these three measures are put together within the shortest possible time, we believe the price of fuel will reduce soon,” he added.

Even though petrol and diesel are expected to go up, the narrative might be different for LPG as it’s expected to experience a marginal decrease in price, the statement added.

“LPG is also likely to sell around GH¢10.024/kg showing a reduction of about 27 P/kg (-2.66%) over the previous window.”