Consumers of petroleum products in the country have started paying high for the products as prices of the products increased by four percent.
The increase took effect from yesterday, however, it does not affect Premix and residual fuel oil.
Rising prices of petroleum products on the world market and the depreciation of the Ghanaian Cedi against major trading currencies occasioned this development.
The 4 percent increment is the maximum price that no Oil Marketing Company (OMC) can go beyond. But they can sell their products below the 4% price under the full price deregulation of petroleum products which took off yesterday.
Following the cap by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), the OMCs had approved a 14 pesewa increase in prices of petroleum products in the country.
A visit to some fuel filling stations in Accra where Petrol was being sold at 4 cedis 47 pesewas, increasing by 14 pesewas per litre while Diesel was being sold at 3 cedis 37 pesewas per litre , depicting an increase of 14 pesewas.
Commenting on the development, the Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Moses Asaga on the Citi Breakfast Show maintained that the ongoing deregulation “only means prices will be going up and down…”
He however admitted that at the early stages, the OMCs would face challenges in pricing their products while consumers would also be filled with uncertainties. Mr Asaga was hopeful that the situation would normalize within a week or two.
“We are just beginning the practice so we know that there will be a few difficulties and confusion in people’s minds but I believe that going deep into the week, people will be able to find tuning and in the next two weeks, people will continue to find tune but today, what is likely to happen is that a lot of Oil Marketing Companies may be stranded in the sense that they may still be displaying old prices.”
The Minority spokesperson on Energy, K.T Hammond indicated that the NPA’s new policy was an illegality which must be corrected.
“For now, we are worried about the constitutionality of it. It is for NPA to set the prices, it is not GOIL or the OMCs [Oil Marketing Companies]…We would have to go to court to stop this government from proceeding with this illegality. It is wrong and we will not allow it,” he told the Accra-based radio station.
The former Deputy Energy Minister argued that the new pricing regime was confusing and the NPA must come to Parliament to seek approval before relegating its duties to the OMCs.
“My understanding was that they were going to take it through Parliament and seek to review whatever there is to review in the NPA Act of 2005 and more importantly, the LI…The LI gives NPA the functions of setting out the formality and the modality, what the price is going to be,” he said.
KT Hammond stressed that the NPA does not have the authority “to shirk their responsibility and ask the OMCs to do that. It is wrong, it is illegal!”
“If they are going to go ahead and whether it is proper for deregulation to proceed…if it is right or wrong, it will be a matter to be debated in a different forum.”
