A fuel attendant
The Institute for Energy Security (IES) is projecting an increase in the price of fuel on the domestic market at the various pumps in the second pricing window of this month.
A recent statement issued by IES, which disclosed this, said this was as a result of certain factors including the 5.09% increase in the price of Brent crude, the 4.58% increase in the price of gasoil, the 4.82% increase in Gasoline price and the 0.17% marginal appreciation of the local currency against the dollar.
“For the majority of OMCs that maintained their prices at the pump within the last window, we expect to see an increase in this window, taking into consideration the international changes in prices over the period,” it said, adding that the price of fuel on the local market remained largely stable within the first pricing window.
It also noted that the price of petroleum products within the first pricing-window of February 2021 saw few Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) increasing their figures marginally close to the end of the window, indicating the current national average price of fuel per litre at the pump was pegged at GH¢5.03.
For the first pricing-window, Zen Petroleum, Benab Oil, Petrosol and Frimps Oil sold the least-priced fuel on the local market, a market survey by IES found.
Brent crude, on the international market, averaged about $58.59 per barrel, representing a 5.09% increase from the previous window’s average price of $55.75 per barrel mark.
IES further noted that the Brent crude price increase was coming on the back of the tightening of markets due to recovering demand for oil products from, particularly China, which put slight pressure on supplies and created backwardation in the market.
Also, other factors include the compliance by members of OPEC+ toward their production cuts as announced last year, the voluntary additional cuts in production by Saudi Arabia, a member of OPEC+, an increase in crude prices as delivered to Europe by Saudi Arabia and Asia and lastly, the looming stimulus rollout in the United States.
Data collated by IES’ Economic Desk from the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market showed that the local currency improved on its stability against the dollar by 0.17% trading at GH¢5.78 to the green back.