Petrol, Diesel Prices Drop To ₵13 And ₵16 Respectively
Petroleum products at the pumps have witnessed a drop in prices in the second pricing window of December 2022.
Petrol was selling around GHc15 per litre whereas diesel was sold for a little over GHc18 per litre in the first pricing window.
The drop in the prices has been attributed to the 6.60% appreciation of the cedi by the Institute for Energy Security (IES).
Petrol is now selling around GHc13 per litre at some pumps whereas diesel goes for GH₵16 per litre .
This resonates with the predictions of the IES.
“With the continued price falls recorded on the international market, consumers are set to see further price relief at the pumps. The Institute for Energy Security (IES) predicts that on the back of 9.02%, 8.08% and 7.38% fall in prices of Gasoline [petrol], Gasoil [diesel] and LPG respectively, the domestic OMCs outlets are set to reduce their prices further”, it explained according to JoyNews.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) in a statement on December 15 said the decline in prices of petroleum products was due to “a stronger intervention by the Bank Of Ghana with specific emphasis on petroleum import space through targeted forex auctions”.
It is uncertain if the transport operators will reduce transport fares with the drop in petroleum products at the pump.
Earlier this week, the spokesperson of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Abbas Imoro said fares will be reduced when the prices of petrol and diesel drop to GHC10.
In an interview on Opemsuo radio he said, “we researched and found that from May 2020 to November 2022, fuel prices have increased by 473% whereas we increased transport fares by just 67%. The guideline is that whenever fuel is increased by 10%, transport fares must be adjusted too but we did not implement that for the increases.
“Not all the increases were passed down to the passengers and, therefore, accumulated in this huge loss for drivers. From January 2022 to November 2022, fuel prices have increased by 243% and we have increased fares by 54%.”
By that, he indicated that reducing transport fares at the current pump price will plunge drivers into losses.
The Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, in his statement on Thursday entreated the BoG to step up efforts to guarantee the needed forex to the petroleum importation market.
He further called on the government to operationalise the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and reassign Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) fund to its originally intended purpose.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
