Petroleum prices likely to see marginal increase in coming days – IES

Consumers should expect a likely increase in the price of fuel at the various pumps for the first pricing window in June as the price of fuel per gallon slowly reaches GH¢24.

This is according to the Institute of Energy Security (IES).

The IES in a press release has indicated that the increment in the price of fuel is occasioned by the 1.09 percent rise in average Brent crude price, as well as a corresponding 4.38 percent and 0.46 percent increase in prices of Gasoline and Gasoil on the international market respectively.

The IES added the increase can also be attributed to the marginal depreciation of the Cedi against the U.S dollar.

In an interview with Citi Business News, Research Analyst of the Institute, Mikdad Mohammed explained the reasons for the likely increase.

“We anticipate fuel prices to go up marginally for the first pricing window which is after a series of stability, I think three consecutive times in prices we have experienced at the pumps and the previous stability we experienced the first factor being the stability of the currency that is the local currency against the dollar and the secondly the application of the price stabilization and recovery levy by the NPA,” he said.

He added that: “For the previous window the May second pricing window, prices could have gone up but for the intervention of the NPA by eliminating the twelve pesewas in petrol and the ten pesewas in diesel pricing stabilization mechanism. But for this window even what we are seeing on the international market and even how the cedi has depreciated against the dollar we anticipate prices to go up”.



Below is the full statement

Local Fuel Market

The second Pricing-window for May 2019 saw average fuel prices at the pump remain unchanged as the Institute projected.

As a result, average prices of Gasoline and Gasoil at the pump continued to sell at GH¢5.21 and GH¢5.18 respectively. The stable fuel price Ghanaians experienced at the pump is not only attributable to the stability of the local Cedi against the Dollar but also because the National Petroleum Authority fully forfeited the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PRSL) mechanism in the Petroleum Price Build-Up (PBU) to further cushion the market.

IES Market-scan shows Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) Benab Oil, Pacific Oil, Frimps Oil, Compass Oil and Goodness Oil sell the least-priced fuel (GH¢5 per litre) on the market while Shell, GOIL and Total sell the highest-priced fuel (GH¢5.25 per litre) relative to other OMCs.

Source: citinewsroom.com