Fuel prices to go up in June – IES predicts

Fuel prices are expected to go up following the 23.25% surge in price of Brent crude oil, in addition to the 41.80% and 22.68% significant rise in the prices of Gasoline and Gasoil respectively on the international market, Energy think tank, the Institute of Energy Security, (IES) has predicted.

IES said “Going by the 23.25% surge in price of Brent crude oil, in addition to the 41.80% and 22.68% significant rise in the prices of Gasoline and Gasoil respectively on the international market; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees prices of fuel on the domestic market going up, and above April 2020 levels,” it said.

It added that, “The marginal depreciation of the local currency would also be another determinant for the Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) in selling to the OMCs, and that would definitely reflect at the pump.”

A litre each of petrol and diesel is currently sold for 4 cedis 6 pesewas on the average.

For the last pricing window, “Shell (Vivo), Total, Goil, Allied Oil, Star Oil, Petrosol and Puma Energy joined other Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to maintain prices at the pump,” the statement said.

“Due to the marginal increase in the prices of oil and fuel on the international market in the first Pricing-window of May 2020, prices of petroleum products on the local market remained largely unchanged within the Pricing-window under review,” IES added.

Global performance of crude oil prices

According to the IES, “Brent crude price moved above the $30 per barrel mark for the Pricing-window under assessment. The crude price recovery is coming on the back of rebound in demand for crude products such as gasoline, gasoil, jet fuel.”

“This positive gain can be attributed to the easing of restrictions in economic activities around the world, and the cutback in production by the OPEC+.”

IES concluded that, “following this, Brent crude price appreciated by 23.25% from $27.36 per barrel recorded at the end of the first Pricing-window of May to close at $33.72 per barrel on average terms at end of the second Pricing-window.”

“Gasoline and Gasoil prices as monitored on Standard and Poor’s global Platts platform shows significant surge. While Gasoline went up by a whopping 41.8% to close the window at $287.65 per metric tonne on average terms, Gasoil price rose by a significant 22.7% to close trading at $264.83 per metric tonne,” it added.