As of today, July 17, 2023, a number of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the nation have increased the cost of gasoline at the station.
Total Energies sells a liter of gasoline and diesel for ¢12.45 pesewas instead of the former price of ¢12.30 pesewas. Shell and GOIL are both selling a liter of diesel for ¢12.45 each, while gasoline is now selling for ¢12.40 instead of its previous price of ¢12.30 at GOIL. Formerly, a liter of diesel and gasoline cost ¢12.30 and ¢12.40, respectively at Shell.
Oil marketing companies: Reason For The Increase
Several factors have been linked to this increase. GOIL attributes it to the small depreciation of the Ghana cedi against the dollar, while Total Energies intends to relate it to the cost price of the bulk oil supply companies.
Initial signals suggested that starting on July 16th, 2023, prices will stay the same at the pumps. For the second pricing window for this month of July 2023, the increase has surpassed industry forecasts and projections. The development can have a detrimental effect on inflation in the upcoming months
The OMCs’ allegation that the price rises are exclusively the result of the depreciation of the currency has been denied by the National Petroleum Authority, which is in charge of overseeing the petroleum industry. A top authority official stated that there had been no complaints of the cedi depreciating according to information provided by banks
Some Statements by the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies
According to several BDCs, the prices of finished petroleum products on the international market from June 7 to July 11, 2023, have barely altered from the prior window. The BDCs state that these premiums will be applied to the price of petroleum goods from July 16 through July 31, 2023.
Furthermore, they argued that within the time frame, the price of crude oil on the global market increased marginally by around $1.48/barrel per day (2.13%) to $75.85/barrel. Major oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia cut back on their production, which was largely to blame for this.
This is true regardless of the fact that the second quarter of 2023 saw rising interest and inflation rates in the US and a gloomy outlook for the world economy.
The fluctuating petroleum product prices in the second quarter, which affected prices at the pump locally, were also explained by the uncertainty around the US debt ceiling measure.
