Fuel produces to be slashed by 15%.

Fuel prices are expected to be reduced by up to 15% at the start of the next pricing window, on March 15, 2020.

The expected reduction will be consistent with the 30% drop in global crude prices recorded on Monday, March 9, and the relative stability of the cedi against major international currencies.

Oil prices dropped the lowest since 1991 on Monday, March 9, 2020, following Saudi Arabia’s price war with Russia that saw them slash selling prices; pledging to unleash its pent-up supply onto a market reeling from falling demand because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Following this, civil society organizations like the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), the Institute of Energy Security (IES) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have called on the government to reduce fuel prices by Oil Marketing Companies to reflect the global drop in crude prices on Monday dawn. COPEC had expected a reduction of between 10-32% compared to the 2% that consumers have been given since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, Hassan Tampuli, says the due process must be followed although the reduction is likely to happen.

Mr. Tampuli, while explaining that the deregulation policy allows for two window periods within which price adjustments are to take place also chided the opposition’s NDC for their hasty conclusions on the matter.

“What they must also know is that the Oil Marketing Companies are entitled to some margins which come to about 68 pesewas in the price build-up. Now because of the forces of demand and supply, they have reduced their margins sometimes to about 30 or 40 pesewas in order to be able to beat the other oil marketing companies.”

“Bear in mind that, they could have gone all the way to 68 pesewas which is statutorily allowed for them, so that should tell you that even the OMCs are not as reckless as they want us to believe, and we’ve been monitoring as a regulator, and we believe that by the next pricing window from what we have seen with the movement of the products, the prices and so forth, we’re likely to see something within the range of 15% reduction. That’s from our calculation all things being equal up to 15th of March.”