The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has warned that Ghanaians should brace themselves for higher fuel prices in the near future.
According to the IES, this increase is attributed to rising world market prices and the depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi.
While crude oil is currently priced at $84 per barrel, concerns are mounting that escalating tensions in the Middle East could push prices even higher, possibly reaching $100 per barrel soon.
Nana Amoasi VII, the Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security, emphasized that this development would pose challenges for economies like Ghana that are already facing difficulties.
He projected that within the next few weeks, fuel prices at the pump could surge to ¢18 per liter for both diesel and petrol.
“What we see is that within the next six weeks, prices or international prices will go up and so we will be hit domestically. We also know that the cedi is not performing well against the dollar, the importing currency. That forex exposure will also hit us domestically.
“We also know that government may not be willing to reduce taxes and levies on fuel so we are not expecting any reduction in the coming six weeks. So we can project that prices of gasoline, LPG and gas oil may not drop in the next six weeks,” he said.
Abass Ibrahim Tasunti, the Head of Economic Regulation at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), emphasized that the authority is unable to intervene in the pricing of petroleum products.
“NPA does not regulate the prices. We don’t tell the marketers that set your price at so and so. It is influenced by these key factors; the world market price, the exchange rate and then the margin that they set. Taxes are also part of the price.
“They know very well that taxes on petrol have not been increased but the prices of petrol are going up because of the world market price. All the petroleum products come from crude oil so once the crude oil price is going up, it affects all of them.”
In the meantime, transport unions are in discussions with the Transport Ministry regarding potential fare increases in light of recent adjustments in fuel prices.
According to Samuel Amoah, Deputy Public Relations Officer of the GPRTU, drivers are suggesting a 30 percent raise in fares.