Fuel price hikes: Petrol hit GH₵15.10, diesel at GH₵15.25 per liter

Some oil marketing companies (OMCs) have started increasing the prices of petroleum products at the pumps starting today, July 16.

Some OMCs attributed the increase in prices to the rising international crude oil prices and the depreciating cedi.

Shell, a market leader, is selling a litre of petrol at GH₵15.10 and diesel at GH₵15.25, up from the previous GH₵14.95 and diesel at GH₵14.85, respectively.

Star Oil is selling a litre of petrol at GH₵14.70 and diesel for GH₵13.93 while TotalEnergies is selling a litre of petrol at GH₵14.80 and diesel for GH₵14.90.

But government-owned Goil is selling a litre of petrol at GH₵14.80 and diesel for GH₵14.92.

The outlook for the price of petroleum products does not look favourable as the cedi is yet to show signs of stabilising against the dollar in the coming weeks.

Earlier, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) predicted a 4% hike in prices of petroleum products, effective Tuesday, July 16, 2024.

COPEC reported that the retail prices for petrol, diesel, and LPG were set to rise due to the cedi’s depreciation against the dollar, shifting from $1:GHS15.2779 to $1:GHS15.462 (-1.205%).

Duncan Amoah, COPEC’s Executive Secretary, outlined expected price changes: Petrol to GHS14.795/L, Diesel to GHS15.332/L, and LPG to GHS16.205/kg, with a 14.5 kg cylinder reaching GHS234.97.

COPEC urged the government to reduce LPG taxes or subsidise its price to encourage widespread use and accessibility. This would help protect the environment by reducing reliance on firewood.

Additionally, COPEC appealed to the government to expedite efforts to bring the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) back into operation.

In the first pricing window of July 2024, the prices of petroleum products went up by 2%.

This was on account of the worsening performance of the Ghana cedi.