Institute of Energy Security predicts 3% to 5% fuel price drop at the pump from today

The IES said the reduction which would span from Friday [May 1, 2020] to Friday [May 15, 2020] would be 3% to 5%.

An analysis by the IES shows that the reduction is coming following the impact of declining global oil prices and the impact of the cedi depreciation for the past few weeks.

A statement from the IES said, “going by the 13.05% reduction in the price of Crude oil, combined with the 20.96% and 18.45% considerable fall in the prices of Gasoil and Gasoline respectively on the international market; the Institute for Energy Security (IES) foresees prices of fuel on the local market losing stability in the first Pricing-window of May 2020.”

“The cedi depreciated by 1.07% against the U.S. Dollar, trading at an average price of Gh¢5.69 to the U.S. Dollar over the period; a clear departure from the Gh¢5.63 recorded in the first Pricing-window of April 2020,” portions of the statement indicated.

The last pricing window in April saw a marginal reduction in prices averaging GHC4.12 per litre for petrol, while diesel sold for GHC4.14 per litre.

A Research and Policy Analyst with the IES, Raymond Nuworkpor, told Accra-based Citi FM that the reduction should reduce the burden on consumers as coronavirus lingers on.

He, however, said that various Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) will sell at different prices.

This he said is from the experiences recorded in the just ended pricing window in April.

“Goil, Petrosol, Puma, and Total Ghana trimmed their prices to sell at an average price of Gh¢4.18 for Gasoil and Gasoline. However, the period saw most OMCs maintaining their prices at the pump to produce a national average price of Gh¢4.12 for Gasoline and Gh¢4.14 Gasoil,” IES said.