More Oil Marketing Companies have started adjusting fuel prices at the pumps despite government activating the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy Act to control recent price increases in the petroleum products.

JoyBusiness understands another major Oil firm Shell is expected to review prices this afternoon, after a similar move by Total over the weekend. 
Sources say a lot more oil firms may review prices today instead of the initial communication that it would happen from tomorrow.  

Managing Director of Oil marketing firm Engen Ghana and Board Member of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies Henry Ofori Akwaboah speaking with JoyBusiness said prices are expected to go up by 4 percent.

“Basically the ex-refinery price has gone up and the ex-refinery prices are determined by the world prices as well as the rate of exchange between the US dollar and the Ghana cedis,” he said.

Mr Ofori Akwaboah said, “Well, for this pricing window the price stabilization is zero which means that the government is already trying to cushion the public but I mean the increase would have been much higher if this intervention was not put in place by the government.”

He said, “You know prices move in sympathy with world market prices and if you look at the trend the world market price has been going up so as long as that trend continues then consumers should expect prices to continue going up.”

Earlier, The National Petroleum Authority (NPA), directed all Oil Marketing Companies, and LPG Marketing Companies to use revised prices in the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy Act to control recent price increases in petroleum products.

This follows a directive from the Ministry of Energy, raising concerns about the recent fluctuations in the prices of petroleum products due to strong political and economic influence from oil-producing countries across the world.

NPA's response

Chief Executive Officer of NPA, Hassan Tampuli told JoyBusiness, “I think it is important that we place on record that the government’s intervention by way of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy intervention is still active and I have to place on record again that but by the intervention by the government the price build up would have seen an increase of about 5.06% for petrol and 3.60% for diesel.”

The price of petrol instead of 5.06% increased by 2.16% and the price of diesel instead of 3.60% increased by 1.26%.”

He said, “When we announced the price build on the 31st of January we anticipated an increase of up to 2.16% for petrol and 1.26% for diesel but of course the forces of supply and demand and competition has found a way to modulate some of these impacts with the price at the pump.”

Mr Tampuli said “There could be a legitimate reason why some of these increments would come because of the increase in the price of crude oil in the international market but some of these increments sometimes are absorbed by the oil marketing companies.”

“So we cannot say for sure that some other oil marketing companies have increased their prices just as Total has done,” he added.