By: Daniel Asare
The Institute for Energy Security’s (IES) computation of the national average price for the three refined petroleum products during the first pricing window of September 2024 shows that gasoline and gas oil were sold at GH₵13.65 and GH₵14.10 per litre, respectively, while LPG was priced at GH₵15.10 per kilogram (kg).
The IES Market scan identifies Star Oil, Zen Petroleum, and Benab Oil as the OMCs offering the lowest prices over the last two weeks.
The first pricing window of September 2024 saw leading Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) reduce the price of liquid fuels in the local fuel market. The price per litre of gasoline and gasoil was lowered by an average of GH₵0.25 for gasoline and GH₵0.30 for gasoil, based on price data compiled from OMCs operating in the local fuels market.
Monitoring of the global Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Platts data on petroleum products’ performance in the world fuel market shows that the prices of Gasoline and Gas oil continued to decline in the first pricing-window of September 2024. LPG on the contrast had its price increase during the same period. Published data for the first pricing-window of September 2024 shows Gasoline closed at $696.38 per metric tonne, Gasoil at $669.38 per metric tonne, and LPG at $546.50 per metric tonne. The net changes indicate all petroleum products fell: LPG by 2.40% Gasoline and Gasoil by 10.62% and 6.09%, respectively.
IES Economic Desk’s tracking of the Ghana Cedi performance on the foreign exchange (forex) market for the first pricing-window for September 2024 show the local currency depreciated by 0.09% in value against the U.S. Dollar. The Ghana Cedi traded at GH₡15.75 after previously trading at GH₡15.74 at the beginning of the first pricing-window for September 2024.
The international fuel market has seen a significant drop in the prices of refined petroleum products: Gasoline (-10.62%), Gasoil (-6.09%), and LPG (-2.40%). The Ghanaian cedi also experienced its slowest depreciation in the first pricing window for September, with a change of – 0.09% against the U.S. dollar.
Given the gains realized in the foreign fuel market and the slower depreciation of the local currency, consumers are expected to see fuel prices fall at the pumps in the coming days. Specifically, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) projects all petroleum prices to decrease by between 2% and 5% in the next two weeks of September 2024.