IES projects marginal fuel price increase

A fuel attendant at work

The Institute of Energy Security (IES) has projected that the prices of fuel on the domestic market is likely to go up marginally in the first pricing window of this month.

The organisation attributed this to the 5.03% increase in the price of International Benchmark – Brent crude, the 8.44% increase in the price of gasoline and the 6.96% increase in gasoil price.

A statement issued lately by IES said finished products price as monitored on Standard and Poor's Global Platts platform showed increases in the price of gasoline and gasoil on the global fuel market within the period.

It continued that gasoline saw an 8.44% increase in prices closing the period at $451.95 per metric tonne from an earlier price of $415.32 per metric tonne while gasoil prices appreciated by 6.96% closing trading at the end of the period at $425.30 per metric tonne from a previous price of $396.68 per metric tonne.

It said the price of petroleum products within the second pricing window of December 2020 saw majority of oil marketing companies (OMCs) increasing prices of gasoline and gasoil at the pump, adding that the current national average price of fuel per litre at the pump was pegged at GH¢4.79.

“For this Pricing-window, Zen Petroleum, Benab Oil, Petrosol and Frimps Oil sold the lowest price per litre of gasoline and gasoil at the pump, according to IES Market-Scan,” a statement from the energy experts said.

On the world oil market, IES noted that Brent crude price, within the period, increased by 5.03% in average price with the commodity being sold at $51.06 per barrel mark from the previous window’s average price of $48.82 per barrel mark.

The commodity continued its rise in price since April 2020. The increase in the average price of the commodity over the period according to IES is attributable to the vaccinations that began within the period against the coronavirus and the expected outcomes from the OPEC+ meeting that was held on January 4, 2021.