Taking into consideration the relative stable prices of Crude oil and Gasoil on the international market, as well as the over 2% decrease in price of Gasoline; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees prices of fuel on the local market remaining largely stable.
However, the continuous depreciation of the Ghana Cedi to the US Dollar in the last few days may have an adverse effect on the selling price of fuel within the first Pricing-window of December 2017.
Local Fuel Market
Fuel prices on the local market recorded the second highest average price recorded, with average Gasoline price per litre at GH¢4.46, while trades at Gasoil at GH¢4.45 per litre.
A gallon of Gasoline and Gasoil currently sells at GH¢20.16 and GH¢20.03 respectively on average terms.
Prices at the pump for the period under review recorded average increment of 3.7% for Gasoline and 5.7% for Gasoil, well within the institute’s projection of an increase of between 3 to 6 percent.
With Zen Petroleum selling Gasoline and Gasoil at GH¢4.391 and GH¢4.371 per litre respectively, their pricing makes them the Oil Marketing Company (OMC) selling the most affordable fuels at the pump; followed by Cash Oil and Lucky Oil.
The three biggest OMCs, namely Goil, Shell (Vivo Energy) and Total, joined few other OMCs to sell the most expensive fuels on the market at a price of GH¢4.49 per litre for both Gasoline and Gasoil.
World Oil Market Prices
Crude oil prices continue to remain above the $60-dollar margin for two consecutive windows ahead of OPEC’s planned meeting to extend production cut in 2018.
Brent crude rose marginally from $62.16 per barrel to close at $62.63 per barrel; thus recording a change of 0.76 percent.
According to Standard and Poor’s Global Platts benchmark for fuels, Gasoline prices dropped by 2.90% to close at $604.65 per metric tonne, from a previous average of $622.68 per metric tonne, while Gasoil increased marginally by 0.71% to close trading at $560.73 per metric tonne.
Local Forex and Fuel Stock
Data collated by IES Economic Desk from the Foreign Exchange market shows a sharp depreciation of the Ghanaian Cedi to major currencies.
The Cedi traded at an average price of GH¢4.48 to a US Dollar over the period under a review, from a rate of GH¢4.41 recorded in the first window of November 2017. Between November 15 to 28, the quantity of Gasoline and Gasoil imported into the country was approximately 78,875 metric tonnes; 36,000 metric tonnes for Gasoline and 42,875 metric tonnes for Gasoil
Credit: Institute of Energy Security - IES/myjoyonline