The looming recession that is expected to hit most advanced economies including US, Japan and the Eurozone could push oil prices below $100.
The most volatile commodity in the world could subsequently retreat if the uncertainty in the developed economies continues, as analysts predict the biggest weekly losses more than a month for oil and gold.
In 2008, when the financial disaster, mostly caused by sub prime crisis in the USA, occurred, crude oil prices reduced significantly from the high of $147 in July to as low as $50 in November.
Analysts fear that recession in developed economies could offset demand by investors picking up some commodities after an earlier selloff.
�Everyone is de-risking and putting money into the dollar because of the deteriorating economic outlook,� said Soozhana Choi, head of Asia commodity research at Deutsche Bank in Singapore.
The US Federal Reserve last week warned of a bleak economic outlook.
A lower global growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) drove worried investors to cut holdings of commodities over chances of slackening demand for energy and industrial metals.
Brent crude hovered around $103.7 per barrel though Ghana hedged oil sale at $107 per barrel from May to December 2011. This means that the nation is losing some money because oil traded below $107 per barrel.
But the recent slip in the price of crude oil and the expected huge dip in the coming weeks indicate that domestic fuel prices should witness some downward price change.
It has been almost seven and half months since petroleum prices were adjusted upward by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), regulator of the petroleum industry.
Petrol sells currently at GHp152 per litre or GH�6.80 per gallon while diesel goes for GHp153.46 per litre or GH�7.00 per gallon.
Kerosene is currently selling at GHp91 per litre, representing GH�4.20 per gallon while price of LPG and premix fuel are GHp104.76 per kilogramme and GHp152.01 per litre respectively.
Under the current deregulated regime, the NPA is supposed to review prices of petroleum products every two weeks but no such review has taken place because government absorbed the expected increases.
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