As predicted, ex-pump prices of petroleum products have shot up sharply as Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are already pricing petrol at GHC 5 per litre, Whatsup News can confirm.
The pump prices are already on display in several fuel stations, even though no official statement has been issued.
The hikes have apparently been triggered by a marginal increase in world market prices for crude oil. Brent Crude is trading for approximately USD$ 52 per barrel from about US$ 48 last week.
This price movement is ahead of the OPCE meeting that anticipates tighter measures that may shoot up crude prices higher.
The hike in fuel prices is set to send consumer products and services spiralling out of control because almost every aspect of life in the country is linked to the movement of prices of petroleum products.
Critics think Ghana is ill-prepared for such potential hikes, as the Akufo Addo administration has virtually crippled under unsustainable public debt, which has been occasioned by the government’s insatiable thirst for loans, gigantic government size and unchecked spending.
Last week, the Institute for Energy Security, IES, predicted a 3- 5 percent increase in both petrol and diesel prices at the pumps within the first 2 weeks of December, which makes up the first pricing window of the month.
The energy think-tank attributes the expected jump in fuel prices to a number of factors including optimism around the development of effective COVID-19 vaccines, a loosening of restrictions in parts of Europe as well as the hopes of an extension of the period for production cuts by OPEC-plus countries to at least the first quarter of 2021.
The above development has pushed Brent crude oil price to around 48 dollars, its highest level since March this year.