Fuel prices likely to go up by 10% next week

Petroleum prices are likely to go up by 10 per cent next week following a rise in crude oil prices on the international market.

The upward adjustment is expected to accommodate an increase in crude oil prices from $36/barrel in March to $46.03 per barrel as at Friday, April 29.

Petroleum prices were last increased by 5% in March when crude oil hit $36/barrel, up from $30 in January.

In a deregulated petroleum industry, Ghanaians have come to expect that world market activity has a near immediate effect on the price at the pumps.

Ghanaians watched crude oil prices plummet to a surprising $25 per barrel in mid-January and anticipated a corresponding reduction in petroleum prices here at home.

But government introduced a slew of taxes that kept prices almost unchanged. President John Mahama explained that the fall on the world market was a God-given opportunity for government to raise revenue and clear outstanding debts in the energy sector.

Crude oil price is now on the ascendancy following disruptions in production in countries like Iraq and Nigeria.