Consumers of petroleum products should be paying lower prices for fuel they purchase at the various pumps, for the next two weeks which is the first pricing window in May.

Energy think tank, Institute of Energy Security, told Citi Business News its analysis shows a reduction of between 3 to 5% for the period spanning Friday [May 1, 2020] to Friday [May 15, 2020].

According to an analysis by the IES, this follows the impact of declining global oil prices and the impact of the cedi depreciation for the past few weeks.

“Going by the 13.05% reduction in 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 energy think tank said in a statement.

“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.

For the last pricing window in April which ended on Thursday [April 30, 2020], fuel prices witnessed a marginal reduction in prices averaging 4 cedis 12 pesewas per litre for petrol, while diesel sold for 4 cedis 14 pesewas.

The Institute of Energy Security says per its analysis, fuel prices at the pumps should see a reduction between 3 to 5 percent  in the first pricing window for the month of May.

A Research and Policy Analyst with the IES, Raymond Nuworkpor, told Citi Business News the reduction should ease the burden on consumers as the Coronavirus and its attendant impact linger on.

He however alluded to possible differences in prices due to some market forces to be triggered by some major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

This is premised on 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.

Source: Citinews online