Central Bank makes available to BDCs $60m for fuel imports
The Central Bank achieved its forex forward auction target of $60m in the sale of the US dollar to Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) in the country.
The 30-day tenor $60m forex auction by the BoG was subscribed by 23 BDCs who through their banks submitted bids ranging from $8.10 to $10.50.
The BoG’s forex forward rate for the auction was $9.55.
The forex forward auctions by the BoG to BDCs is intended to minimise the uncertainty of the future availability of forex and aid price discovery especially for the general pricing window within the downstream sector.
With the exclusive forex forward auction to BDCs by the BoG, prices of imported fuel at the pumps is expected to witness some stability.
Fuel prices set to return to single digits in 2023 – IES projects
Meanwhile, the Institute for Energy Security (IES), is projecting a further reduction in the prices of petroleum products at the pumps at beginning of the first pricing window of the month of January 2023.
According to the IES, domestic OMC outlets are set to reduce their prices significantly in the first week of 2023, with some selling at single digits.
Per projections by the Think Tank, prices of petroleum products are set to reach GHS 9.50 (petrol), GHS 11.60 (diesel) and GHS 9 (LPG) respectively.
The anticipated decline in the prices of petroleum products at the pumps, the IES notes, is on the back of the 5.28% and 5.09% fall in the prices of Gasoline and LPG respectively and the 26.51% appreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar in the second pricing window of December.
“Despite the marginal rise in the price of Gasoil on the international market, the Ghana Cedi’s appreciation against the Dollar will force prices down locally,” it added.
Local Fuel Market Performance
In the pricing window under review, the IES MarketScan picked Nasona, Shell/Vivo, TotalEnergies, Engen, Sel, and Goil as OMCs with the highest-priced fuel on the market. Star Oil, Frimps, Benab Oil, Zen Petroleum, and Goodness Oil were spotted as some of the OMCs with the least-priced fuel on the market.
World Oil Market
International Crude oil benchmark Brent fell by 0.51% in price over the previous window’s average price of $81.90 per barrel to the present average price of $81.48 per barrel.
Last week, Beijing announced the most sweeping changes to its strict Covid-19 guidelines, including relaxing testing requirements and travel restrictions.
A slowing worldwide economy, China’s recent lockdowns, and a stronger dollar have brought the price of oil down more than 23% in the last six months.
Oil prices rose on Friday on expectations of lower Russian crude exports from the Baltic region in December, offsetting worries that a looming Arctic storm across the United States could snuff out transport fuel demand growth this holiday season.
Oil prices continued to pose gains slightly within the window on concerns that winter storms across the United States are affecting the logistics and production of petroleum products and shale oil.
