Your fuel prices likely to go up as NPA increases BOST Margin by 100%

Consumers of fuel are expected to pay a higher price for the same volume of fuel following an announcement by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) of an upward review of some levies slapped on petroleum products.

While the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF) has been increased by GHp1.00 per litre, the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) margins have been increased by GHp3.00 per litre in the Price Build-Up (PBU).

This was contained in a statement signed by NPA Chief Executive Alhassan S. Tampuli, even though the release did not contain reasons for the hike.

However, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers – Ghana (COPEC-Ghana) has kicked against the “insensitive increases” and has called for a total scrap of the levy hike.

“Per the directive, the controversial BOST margin which currently stands at GHp 3p/litre or some cumulative 10,200,000.00 from consumers is to be increased by 100 per cent to a new rate of GHp 6/ litre or some cumulative 20,400,000.00 from consumers based on current conservative estimates of some 340 million litres of fuel consumed monthly, the UPPF component also gets increased by 4.7 per cent or 1p from the current  GHp 21/litre to 22p/ litre or some 3,420,000.00 cumulative monthly,” COPEC-Ghana Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah, said in a release on Sunday.

He is concerned that the development could further place a burden on fuel prices consideration the adverse impact of depreciation which he said has resulted in a one per cent price rise in the past week.

“Fuel prices across pumps within the country went up by one per cent just last week following from days of a sharp depreciation of the cedi and is believed could go up further in the next window starting tomorrow as the cedi continues to depreciate,” he added

He further noted: “Whiles admitting BOST needs some capital injection in their operations, it is completely needless to push such needed investments into their operations onto the already high fuel price build-up and affirms our long-held position of the need to properly restructure that institution to cut back on the completely needless waste of resources at the said institution.”