The prices of petrol, diesel, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will go up by 25 pesewas per litre in the first two weeks of February, this year, the Institute for Energy Security has predicted.
The Institute said the impending increment would be higher than projected if the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy (PSRL), currently suspended, was not extended for the month of February.
In its projections for the February 2022 First Pricing Window, the IES attributed the expected increment to hike in Brent Crude prices, LPG among other commodities on the international market.
“The pending increases come on the back of an 8.52 per cent increase in the price of Brent crude, a 5.5 per cent rise in LPG price, a 6.23 per cent increase in price of Gasoline, and 9.86 per cent jump in Gasoil price; all on the international oil and fuel markets.
“Further depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against the US Dollar on the foreign exchange (Forex) market adds on to the factors that will push up the prices of the commodities on the local market,” it said.
The IES said the impending price increases could see all the major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) crossing the Gh¢7 per litre mark for Gasoil and Gasoline, moving the price increases for both products over the past 6-months beyond the 16- percentage mark recorded at end of January 2022.
Petrol and diesel are currently selling at an average GHC6.9 and GHC7.0 per litre respectively at the local pumps.
Some OMCs are, however, selling both petrol and diesel for as low as GHC6.3 per litre.
Before the beginning of the year, both petrol and diesel were trading at GHC6.7 per litre at the pumps.
In its review of the January Second Pricing Window, the IES found that the price of international benchmark Brent rose within the period, pushing prices to an average of $87.16 per barrel, representing an increment of 8.52 per cent from the previous window’s average price of $80.30 per barrel.
Within the last two weeks, Brent crude price touched $90 a barrel, occasioned by the low cushing and distillate inventories, combined with the supply jitters in Europe, it said.
“In the last two weeks, the price of Gasoline increased by $48.31 per metric tonne (6.23 per cent) from its earlier price of $774.94 per metric tonne. The price of Gasoil rose sharply by 9.86 per cent, adding $68.61 per metric tonne, to end the two-week session at $764.61 per metric tonne,” it said.
The IES also found that the Ghanaian Cedi depreciated marginally against the U.S. Dollar by 0.2 per cent on average terms in the first pricing window of January 2022 to trade at Gh¢6.285 to the dollar, from the previous window’s rate of Gh¢6.262 to the international currency.
As part of measures to lessen the burden on consumers, the Government extended the suspension of the PSRL on petrol, diesel, and LPG to the end of January 2022.
The PSRL, which has been suspended since November, 2021, imposes a 16-pesewas-per litre levy on petrol, 14-pesewas per litre on diesel, and 14-per kilogram on LPG.
GNA
