IES: Fuel prices may remain steady despite global drop in petroleum product prices
Ghana’s fuel prices may remain unchanged for the next two weeks, despite a decline in international prices of petroleum products. The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has stated that a significant drop in the value of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar in the last two weeks could offset any expected fuel price reductions.
According to the IES, data from its Economic Desk on the domestic foreign exchange (forex) market over the last two weeks showed that the Ghana cedi closed trading at ¢12.01 to the US dollar, from ¢11.55 at the start of the window. This represents a loss of approximately 3.98% in value.
The IES has also reported that the prices of all petroleum products it monitors on the international market fell over the last two weeks, alongside the price of Brent crude. Specifically, the price of gasoline (petrol), gasoil (diesel), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fell by 3.56%, 3.69%, and 2.37% respectively over the period.
Despite these price reductions, the IES expects fuel prices to remain the same in Ghana due to the drop in the value of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar. The IES projection of petroleum prices for this pricing window suggests that there may be no change in fuel prices at the pump in Ghana, as the decline in the value of the Ghana cedi could offset any expected fuel price reductions.
Ghana’s fuel prices went up marginally in the just-ended pricing window (April 16 – April 30). The IES has also reported that during the second pricing window for April 2023, domestic petroleum product prices increased at the pump in response to rising international commodity prices, as recorded in the first half of April 2023.
The IES monitoring of various Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) during the pricing window under review finds that the national average price per litre for petrol was ¢12.76p, diesel at ¢12.86p and LPG at about ¢11.60 per kilogramme. These figures show a price increase at the pump, except for LPG.
Meanwhile, the world oil market continues to experience declines in prices, with crude oil prices extending last week’s losses and trading lower at $83.3 per barrel for Brent crude at the end of the pricing window under review, from an initial average price of $85.29 per barrel. The prices were weighed down by lingering concerns about demand amid economic growth worries.
Ghana’s fuel prices may remain unchanged despite the decline in international prices of petroleum products due to the drop in the value of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar. This trend has been observed despite the reduction in the prices of all petroleum products on the international market, including Brent crude. It remains to be seen whether the situation will change in the coming weeks, as the international oil market continues to experience fluctuations in prices.
