Petrol Could Be Sold At Gh¢10 Per Liter In January 2023

Fuel prices at the pumps decreased marginally as major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the country reduced the prices of petroleum items at the stations in the last pricing window for 2022.

This is because the National Petroleum Authority(NPA) used a forex estimate rate of ¢14.01 to $1 for the second pricing window.

This is the reason fuel prices reduced marginally and not significantly as anticipated when the cedi’s comeback against the dollar was about 52%.

Data from the Bank of Ghana indicate that as of December 15, 2022, the local currency wrestled the US dollar and appreciated by 63.7 per cent in the process (now selling at around GH¢8), thereby trimming as the year progressed to-date depreciation to 24.9 per cent.

Nonetheless, in 2023, the primary pricing window being the first of January, the NPA is probably going to use a forex estimation rate of ¢10.07 to $1.

Crude oil on the world market is also estimated to be reduced. So in the following pricing window, January first, 2023, prices of fuel will go down significantly.

In Ghana, the price of fuel is determined by a formula that takes into consideration the following four and some of the time five factors:

1. The world market price of crude.

2. The freight cost from the source to Ghana, storage costs and all other associated costs incurred before supply to retail outlets. This is mostly referred to as the Suppliers’ Premium or margin.

3. The exchange rate; the dollar to cedi rate

4. The taxes/levies by government

5. The OMC margins (OMC “individual fuel stations” profits).

With the price of freight coming down because of the appreciation of the cedi and the decrease of crude oil prices on the world market, you can anticipate some significant decrease in petroleum items by January 1, 2023.

Meanwhile, market leader GOIL has reduced the price of petrol to GH¢13.40 per liter from the previous GH¢15.80 in the last pricing window for 2022, representing more than a GH¢2 drop from its previous price, translating into about a 15% decrease.

Diesel decreased to GH¢16.10 per liter from the previous GH₵18.86.

TotalEnergies is selling petrol for GH¢13.40 per liter, while diesel is going for GH¢15.85 per liter.

READ:Transport fares to reduce by 15.3% effective 19th December

The price decrease translates to about a 15% per cent drop in petrol and diesel.