Deputy Energy Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer has disclosed that the first consignment of fuel under Ghana’s Gold for Oil deal will arrive on the shores of the country in January 2023.

The Deputy Minister in an interview with Benjamin Akakpo on the AM Show on Wednesday, said the necessary agreement needed had been completed for the first consignment to arrive.

“On the 10th, 11th and 12th of January, the first consignment of the finished product is going to arrive in this country coming from the United Arab Emirates. All the necessary agreement that needed to be executed has been executed. A lot more interest had been shown by other oil traders in terms of Government to Business. Government to Government conversations have also taken place,” he said.

The Legislator noted that significant progress had been made as part of efforts to import cheap fuel to Ghana.

The Gold for Oil barter deal will see the country getting cheaper fuel in exchange for Gold.

Prices of fuel are expected to go down further after the cheap fuel is introduced into the market.

Mr. Egyapa Mercer explained that the deal is intended to “compliment what it is that the private sector who are operators within the space are providing.”

According to him, this move by the government will take some pressure off the dollar and make it available to other people to avoid increasing pressure on the cedi.

It will be recalled that in November, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia announced the deal to ostensibly tackle the country’s “dwindling foreign exchange reserves” and also to address rising prices of petroleum products.

He said the government expects “this new framework to be fully operational by the end of the first quarter of 2023.”

Fuel prices at the time of the announcement were high at most fuel pumps across the country, with consumers appealing to the government for an intervention.

Subsequently, a government delegation was dispatched to Abu Dhabi to negotiate a deal to bring petroleum products onto the Ghanaian market.

The delegation was scheduled to meet the Chief Executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Sultan Al Jaber for a possible deal.