AOMCs push for reduction in fuel taxes
The Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) has defended it’s members saying they have been selling fuel at feeble prices despite rising cost of operations and crude oil prices.
The assertion by the AOMC comes after some OMCs began reducing fuel price at the pumps.
Speaking to the media, Chief Executive Officer of the AOMC, kwaku Agyemang Duah, noted the margin of profit in the price build up is quite low hence OMCs are not accruing much profit from the petroleum downstream business.
He therefore wants government to take off some taxes from the petroleum price build up to reduce the cost of operations and also ensure that consumers have fair prices
“Even if you take the highest price of the GHS 6.08, the margin is not even fully upto the 100% that we are talking about. In the regulation environment, you need to give up something to gain something, the aim of the game actually is to make sure that your cost levels are low so that you can make it because if your cost, especially your overhead is still looking at you, then you have a problem”, he said.
The price of fuel on the local market experienced an increment within the first pricing-window of the month of November.
Right from the beginning of the window, prices of petroleum products recorded significant upward reviews, from the major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), with Total Petroleum Ghana leading the charge.
Must Read: Show Hosts and Presenters are also part of customer service – J. N. Halm
Prices of Gasoline and Gasoil at the pump increased by roughly GHS 0.10 per liter, in spite of the suspension of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL) by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
The price increases recorded brings the national average price of fuel per litre in Ghana to GHS 6.81 per litre for Gasoline (Petrol) and GHS 6.79 for Gasoil (Diesel), up from GHS 6.64 for both Gasoline and Gasoil.
As per the IES Marekt-Scan, Benab Oil, Zen Petroleum, Cash Oil, Goodness Oil and Top Oil stands as the OMCs that sold the least-priced fuel on the local market, for the pricing-window under review.
The International Benchmark Brent Crude saw its price tumble within the period under assessment with price selling on average at about $83.25 per barrel mark, a 1.54 percent decrease from the previous window’s average price of $84.55 per barrel mark.
The price of the Brent Crude suffered the usual volatilities on the back of the constant geopolitical issues with OPEC+, the United States of America, and the return of global economies from the impact of the pandemic.