No fuel price increment – Terkper

Outgoing Finance Minister Seth Terkper, who also doubles as acting Power Minister, has assured Ghanaians there will be no increment in fuel prices at least during the Yuletide.

“As we stand here BOST together with Ministry of Finance have invested in three cargos of crude which we put in strategic stock at South Africa, U.S and other countries which we expect to release should the price go above and now that we are closer to 60 and once we release the expectation is that it will stabilize prices and the usual problem with petroleum price around this era, hopefully we will spend our first Christmas without worries about increase in fares,” Mr. Terkper told journalists in Accra on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC GH) on Tuesday, December 20, it said fuel prices have gone up at the various service stations in Ghana. This current increases ranging between 4 – 6% across the pumps is largely traced to the upward volatility of world market indexes over the past fortnight coupled with some marginal depreciation in the Cedi against the other major trading currency, the dollar.

Below is the full statement:

CHAMBER OF PETROLEUM CONSUMERS GHANA (COPEC GH)

Fuel Prices Up by 5%

20th December, 2016

Fuel prices have gone up at the various service stations across the country. This current increases ranging between 4 – 6% across the pumps is largely traced to the upward volatility of world market indexes over the past fortnight coupled with some marginal depreciation in the cedi against the other major trading currency, the dollar.

World oil prices over the last two weeks have seen some upward movements following the decisions by both OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut down on daily supply figures. The decision for cuts in daily production levels has had some major impact on world price indexes as prices on the world market have surged by between 10 – 14% as of today, trading between $52-$55/barrel from previous levels of $47-$48/barrel.

The cedi also has seen some depreciation against the dollar from 3.98/dollar to 4.18/dollar. This represents a depreciation of approximately 5%. These galloping movements and cedi depreciation are having a direct pass thru effects on local pump prices in Ghana’s deregulated market. The second pricing window for the month of December which began on 16th is expected to end on the 31st of same. Our checks across the various pumps indicate prices have gone up by an average of 5% though many others including GOIL have maintained previous pump figures as of this day.

It is important to note, the decision by other OMCs not to independently adjust their pump prices without the usual benchmarking is a clear violation of the interim regulation put out by the National Petroleum Authority at the start of the price liberalisation programme in June 2015. The guideline stipulates in clear terms, that all OMCs are expected to adjust upwards at the start of the pricing window and can only review downwards within the two week window. OMCs are thus obliged to adjust their prices effectively on the first day of the pricing window and display same accordingly on their electronic boards. The developing situation currently however is that most OMCs rather choose to do the wait and see by waiting on the state-owned oil marketing company with the biggest market share, to adjust their prices for them to play around the figures subsequently. This trend is certainly a defeat of the deregulation policy and must be halted without delay.

Some service stations are equally guilty of the habit of deliberately shutting down their electronic boards during periods of adjustment even though their prices might have been reviewed and already in effect. This cheating situation is often noticed when there are other service stations nearby operating under an OMC with competitive prices. This illegal activity is done in their quest to short-change the unsuspecting consuming public and must also be curtailed immediately.

We are by this notice calling on the National Petroleum Authority to apply the necessary sanctions to OMCs and service stations that indulge in these nefarious and illegal acts with impunity in order to further boost the confidence in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector for the benefit of all. The regulations stipulating the updating and immediate display of prices on electronic boards on the first day of a new pricing window by all service stations must be enforced to the letter to prevent the deliberate and systematic cheating of the system.

The tables below represent fuel prices on offer at the pumps in Ghana as at Tuesday, 20th December, 2016. As at this date only ten (10) Oil Marketing Companies had reviewed their prices. We continue to monitor happenings on the market and committed to updating consumers as and when we have new developments. We wish to repeat our call on consumers to desist from patronising retail outlets that offer higher and unreasonable prices.

Signed

Thomas Dodzi Tsoekeku

Head, Research and Pricing

Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM