The Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC) Dr. Riverson Oppong has revealed that consumers should expect some significant reduction in the prices of petroleum products at the pumps in the coming weeks.

He attributed the projection to improved supply of petroleum products and the cedi’s recent stability against the US dollar.

“You know that there was some fuel shortage on the market some two weeks ago and that impacted on pricing of petroleum products in the second pricing window”, Mr. Oppong disclosed on PM EXPRESS with host George Wiafe on November 21, 2024.

“Now that things are improving, that could have some significant impact on prices at the pumps,” he assured.

He added that the situation shows a bright future, as the cedi continues to stabilize against the dollar.

“The Ghana Cedi has also been fairly stable and if that should continue, then consumers should be assured of some competitive prices at the pumps in the coming weeks, he said.

Cedi performance and fuel prices

Mr. Oppong said consumers would have enjoyed a big reduction of about 11 to 17 percent in prices at the pumps early this year if the cedi had not depreciated.

“The Platt Price data, which guides pricing of petroleum products in Ghana had showed that the price of petrol for instance had dropped by 11.39 percent.  If the cedi had been stable, then we should have seen prices go down by that margin”, he observed.  

Dr. Oppong noted that the development has shown that the performance of the cedi plays a significant role in determining prices at the pumps.

Data from some commercial banks showed that the cedi had depreciated by some 35.94 percent.

“This shows that everything must be done to stabilize the cedi because of its impact” he said.

Status of petroleum reserves and supply

Dr. Oppong assured that the supply situation has improved. He however said there are still issues with some BOST Tank Farms in some parts of the country.

He revealed that there were also some issues with the Gold for Oil programme which impacted supplies.

He added that some Bulk Oil Distribution companies have decided to import directly.

“All these developments should ensure that supply of petroleum products  will not be a challenge going forward”, he said.