Lack of price clarity cause of regional market woes in West Africa – James Gooder

The Vice President in Charge of Crude Oil at Argus Media James Gooder has stated that there should be clarity in terms of prices for petroleum products in Africa to make regional markets visible enough for growth and development.

James Gooder noted that the region has a large and growing market for refined products particularly gasoline but other products such as diesel and LPG rely heavily on imports thus the need for transparency.

He was speaking at the virtual ceremony for the 2021 Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCON).

“You have refineries but they are not sufficient in terms of skills or operability, to meet the growing demand of your domestic market. Of course, we have more projects on the way…Dangote which is set to be up and running next year and it will make a huge difference in the market. But traditionally these markets have been rather opaque and illiquid and what we are looking forward to as a price reporting agency is visibility and liquidity,” he said.

Explaining the repercussions Mr Gooder said the lack of clarity leaves regional buyers and producers as well as consumers at a disadvantage.

“If your suppliers are bringing products into your market at prices that are known them but not to you, then it means there is an imbalance to access to information that we are to rebalance.”

He, therefore, called for standard prices that must be open to all industry players.

GhIPCON is designed to actively bring to the fore the petroleum industry’s perspective and guidance on issues of governmental and regulatory policy as well as best practices for the advancement of the industry, not only in Ghana but across the sub-region and beyond.