Fuel Prices Likely To Go Up Between 4 And 10 Percent - COPEC

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) says prices of fuel is likely to go up again by Friday.

Petrol is expected to stand between 5-10% whilst diesel will fall between 3-8% according to the second pricing window under the Price Liberalization Programme of the National Petroleum Authority.

The first window of the current month of November saw most of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) maintain fuel prices at the various pumps with average trading indexes of around 4.320/litre for petrol or gasoline and 4.230/litre for gasoil.

With a price of a gallon averaging around 19.463 for PMS (petrol ) and Ghc19..071 for AGO (diesel) across most pumps.

World market prices over the past two week window has seen some sharp increases in respect of both products, Gasoil saw an increase of about 4.016% to close trading at around $557/metric from the previous window figures of $536/metric.

Gasoline or petrol saw an increase of about 10%, increasing from previous trading indexes of $565/metric to $623/metric representing about $57/metric change.

Speaking to the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, Mr.Joseph Duncan Amoah on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' Programme indicated that the pump prices for both products could be expected to rise by between 3-11% depending on the OMC.

The current pump averages of 4.320 and 4.230 for gasoline and Gas oil respectively, given the current price movements, the two products could rise to as high as Ghc4.66/litre or Ghc20.97/ gallon, and Ghc4.68/litre or Ghc21.06/gallon for Gasoline and Gas oil respectively representing 7.76% and 10.44% increases on both products respectively.

"We use this opportunity to commend Government on some attempts at reducing taxes in the first budget which saw a net reduction of about 2.63% on the then pump prices, we further reiterate our earlier calls on the Government to consider further reviews on fuel taxes especially the price stabilization and recovery margins as well as the fixing of the Special Petroleum Tax to a specific amount or a movement from the current 15% on Ex-Depot to Ex-Refinery position as the levels continue to remain very high, accounting for over 51% on current ex-pump prices."

He added that they also expect government to review some of the taxes levied on fuel, adding that it will help reduce prices of fuel and bring some relief to Ghanaians.