The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has called on government to establish a strategic fuel stock programme to protect consumers from recurring increases in fuel prices driven by international market volatility.

Speaking on Joy FM's Midday News on Wednesday, July 15, Mr Amoah said Ghana remains highly vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations because it continues to rely heavily on imported refined petroleum products.

"This is just another wake-up call to the country that we continue to be price takers. We continue to be affected directly and sharply by global price movements," he said.

"So something needs to be done. Strategic stock programme would need to be looked at again. The local crude supply to your refineries, I think that we should work even harder at this point to ensure that the refineries keep running and that we could be able to eliminate direct importation from, particularly the European market so that we can also be able to control prices locally," he added.

According to him, an effective strategic fuel stock programme would enable the country to purchase and store fuel when international prices fall, creating a buffer that could be used to stabilise domestic prices during periods of global market volatility.

"You cannot have the tanks of BOST still empty at this point when, just a few weeks ago, prices were dropping and we could have taken advantage of that to get products into storage for trading," he said.

His comments come as fuel prices are set to rise from July 16 at the pumps despite the relative stability of the cedi in recent months, with escalating tensions in the Middle East threatening to push global crude oil prices even higher.

Mr Amoah acknowledged government efforts over the past two months to revive local refining, including initiatives involving the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and Sentuo Oil Refinery, but urged authorities to intensify those efforts.

"Government should step up those efforts to ensure that the logistical cost associated with importing finished petroleum products into Ghana can be sharply reduced," he stated.

Mr Amoah lamented that Ghana has failed over the years to build the financial capacity needed to maintain strategic fuel reserves, leaving consumers exposed whenever international prices surge.

"If prices go up tomorrow and government had stocked up a week or two earlier, it could intervene and say there is enough fuel in stock, so there's no need to immediately apply the current spot prices to the market. That is how you cushion consumers," he explained.

He urged the Ministries of Energy and Finance to prioritise both the strategic stock programme and the supply of locally produced crude oil to domestic refineries.

According to him, expanding local refining capacity and reducing dependence on imported fuel would give Ghana greater control over domestic fuel pricing and lessen the impact of external shocks on consumers and the broader economy.

"Any time fuel prices go up, the impact on the Ghanaian economy is severe. We need to strengthen local refining and build strategic reserves if we are to protect consumers from these recurring shocks," he added.