Pump prices likely to remain same in first pricing window of November – IES asserts
Energy policy Think Tank, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) has predicted that fuel prices are likely to remain relatively unchanged on the domestic fuel market within the first pricing window of the month of November – from November 1 to 16.
This follows a marginal drop in the price of finished products of petrol, diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) on the international market.
Per IES’ forecast, the average price per litre of petrol will remain at GHS 12.35, whilst diesel will be pegged at GHS 15.90 per litre.
The price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will also remain at GHS 12.90 per kilogramme (Kg).
“Following a marginal drop in the price of Gasoline [petrol], Gasoil [diesel], and LPG by some 0.01%, 0.95%, and 1.71% respectively on the international market, a depreciation of the Ghana cedi against the U.S. dollar, fuel prices are likely to remain relatively unchanged on the domestic fuel market.”
“Although the Ghana Cedi depreciated by 1.32% to the U.S. Dollar, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) is projecting that ex-pump prices of key market products will be maintained in the first two weeks of November 2023, largely due to the falls in international prices of the commodities”, noted the IES.
The Think Tank further noted that data from its Economic Desk on the domestic foreign exchange (Forex) market over the last two weeks showed that the Cedi made a loss of 1.32% against the U.S. dollar, closing the window at GHS 11.86 to the dollar, from a previous rate of GHS 11.71.
World oil market
Regarding the world oil market, the IES states that the global oil supply from numerous OPEC+ countries in the Middle East, possibly all of them, is dependent on how far the Israel-Hamas conflict spreads.
On the demand side of the oil price equation, there is still concern about China’s economic development prospects, which has been the world’s largest yearly gross crude oil importer since 2017.
Brent Crude prices started increasing amidst calls for sanctions on Iran when Hamas first struck Israel. The prices have since slowed down but still react intermittently to new developments from the Middle East.
Local fuel market performance
On the performance of the local fuel market, IES asserts daily monitoring of the domestic fuel market observed price reductions for liquid fuels by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the second pricing-window for October 2023.
Specifically, the price of diesel dropped by an average of GHS 0.45 to GHS 15.90 per litre, while the price of petrol also reduced by ¢0.60 to ¢12.35 per litre. That of LPG stood at ¢12.90 per kilogramme.
