Minority spokesperson on petroleum prices

The Minority Spokesperson on Energy says the price of petroleum products must come down by between 10 and 13 percent.

The decline of crude oil prices on the world market has prompted local calls for an immediate reduction in prices at the pump.

But, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is holding firm, saying prices will fall shortly when the current stock on the market is exhausted.

The NPA has suggested that there will be at least a 5 percent reduction. Dr. Ampofo, the NDC spokesperson on Energy, is arguing that 5 percent is not enough, nor is it in keeping with world oil prices.

He explained that petrol must come down to about 35,000 cedis from the current 40,000 cedis per gallon. Ampofo argued that “in October, crude oil will start selling petrol at 1.59 dollars per gallon. This comes to just about 16 thousand cedis per gallon".

"When you bring it down to Ghana and you do what we call the import piracy, it will go up by just some 20 per cent and so you are going to get, instead of 16 thousand cedis, something like 18 thousand cedis.”

Dr Ampofo who is also an expert in petroleum provided further justification for the 35 thousand cedi ceiling he’s proposing, arguing that “when Katrina hit, the prices went from 70 dollars per barrel and the core gasoline prices were in the range of what we were having today.

At that time, they price petrol to 32 thousand cedis.”