Fuel prices up by over 16% since January

Prices of petrol, diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) have gone up by about 12. 41 per cent,12.31 per cent and 16.6 percent respectively since January 2016 available checks have revealed.

Despite the relative stability in the price of crude oil since the beginning of this year, consumers have experienced price increases which have been attributed to inflation and exchange rate fluctuation.

Presently, crude oil is hovering around US$45 per barrel though it traded less than US$40 during the first quarter of this year.

A gallon of petrol which was selling at about GHC14.10 per gallon in January 2016 is now going for about GH¢15.85 while diesel which used to sell at about GHC13.80 per gallon is now going for GHC15.50. LPG is however selling at GHC49 now compared with GHC42 per kilogramme.

Checks also revealed that some Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have for this month alone increased the prices of petroleum products sold at the pumps by about 4 percent.

The increment is part of the partial deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector which requires a fortnight review of petroleum prices.

Per the increment, petrol went up by 12 pesewas per litre while diesel increased by 10 pesewas per litre.

The OMCs began quoting their own prices late last year when the partial deregulation of the petroleum sector began. While some OMCs such as Total and Union Oil maintained their prices, others adjusted their prices upwards.

According to experts on energy, Ghana is among the countries in the world with very expensive petroleum products.

In December 2015, Parliament passed an Energy Sector Levy Bill (2015) that imposed more taxes including 17.5 percent Value Added Tax on petroleum products.

The Road Fund component of the price build-up was GHC0.40 per litre from the previous GHC0.07 per litre.

The Africa Center for Energy Policy which accused government of burdening Ghanaians with too much petroleum levies said the levy imposed on petrol was GHC0.12 per litre, diesel was GHC0.10 per litre and LPG GHC10 per kilogramme.

These levies it stated translated into an increase in ex-pump price by 5 percent for petrol, 4 percent for diesel and 4 percent for LPG.

Some airlines also decided to reduce their flights because of the cost of aviation fuel while potential ones adopted a wait and see attitude before commencing operations in Ghana.