REVIEW OF MAY FIRSTPRICING-WINDOW
Local Fuel Market Performance
Price of fuel on the local market increased by about 11% within the first pricing window of May 2021 from the previous window. Petroleum products: gasoline and gasoil, within the period under review saw the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) increase prices at the start of the pricing window only to be revised following a downward review of the new margins introduced in the price build-up soon after the jump in prices at the pump.
The current national average price of fuel per litre at the pump is pegged at Gh¢5.78 for both products.
For this Pricing-window, Zen Petroleum, Benab Oil, Goodness Oil, Petrosol and Frimps Oil were picked up by the IES Market-Scan as the OMCs with the least-priced petroleum products at their pumps.
World Oil Market
The second pricing-window of April saw the international benchmark, Brent crude price average about $67.82 per barrel mark representing a 3.21% increase from the previous window’s average price of $65.71per barrel.
The Brent Crude price reacted to the usual volatilities in the market within this window. The volatility in the market that saw prices rise to near $69 per barrel was a result of news of the global fuel glut clearance announced by the IEA which it attributed to the fuel supply drop by the OPEC+. Also, the accelerating vaccinations and rising fuel demand due to a rebound in transportation fuel consumption also contributed to the steady rise in fuel prices.
Gasoline and Gasoil prices as monitored on Standard and Poor’s global Platts platform show that price of the international commodities Gasoline and Gasoil experienced marginal differences within the period.
Gasoline experienced another increase in price by 4.18% in the period under assessment to close the window at $656.63per metric tonne from an earlier $630.25 per metric tonne. Gasoil price also saw an increment 4.84% within the period to close trading at $545.50 per metric tonne from the April second pricing-window’s price of$520.32per metric tonne.
Local Forex
Data collated by IES Economic Desk from the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market shows the Cedi appreciated marginally against the U.S. Dollar by 0.17% from the previous window’s Gh¢5.76 to the current Gh¢5.75 to the US Dollar.
PROJECTIONS FOR MAY 2021 SECOND PRICING-WINDOW
The 3.21% increase in price of the International Benchmark- Brent crude together with the 4.84% increase in price of Gasoil and the 4.18% increase in Gasoline price, and with global crude prices hovering around $69 per barrel mark, OMCs in Ghana may have to revise fuel prices upwards again in the coming pricing-window whereas others may also stay their current prices at the pump to increase their market share.
This is coming nonetheless, on the back of the cedi appreciation of 0.17% against the US Dollar.
