GH¢2 fuel subsidy favours V8 owners over trotro drivers - CBOD CEO

Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), Dr Patrick Kwaku Ofori, has raised concerns about the government's GH¢2 per litre fuel subsidy, arguing that the flat-rate intervention provides greater benefits to motorists who consume more fuel than to public transport operators.

According to him, motorists with larger vehicles and bigger fuel tanks receive a larger financial benefit under the arrangement, raising questions about whether the subsidy is the most effective way to support commuters.

Speaking on Citi FM's Eyewitness News on Thursday, September 17, 2026, Dr Ofori compared the benefit received by the owner of a V8 vehicle with a 90-litre tank to that received by a trotro operator who purchases about 25 litres of fuel for a trip between Madina and Circle.

“You are giving it more to those who can afford, and those who have conditions or services that these are going to be paid by their institutions or establishments,” he said.

He described the policy as “not a careful, thought-through process”.

Dr Ofori said the resources being used for the subsidy could instead be channelled into public transport infrastructure, which he argued would provide broader support for commuters.

“So you check the amount that we could have made if that has even been diverted into an investment into public transport,” he said.

“You would have had more than 200 buses on the street that will be taking people from Kasoa to Circle or Madina, Adenta or Tema Shinning to Accra.”

Global pressures drive fuel prices
Dr Ofori attributed the recent increase in fuel prices to several international developments, including tensions between the United States and Iran, attacks by Houthi rebels on pipelines supplying Europe and drone attacks on Russian refineries.

He said the attacks had disrupted diesel exports from Russia, while Saudi Arabia had cancelled some refined petroleum product orders to Europe.

Another factor, he said, was the reduction in global petroleum reserves, with stock levels in major markets falling below what he described as the normal 75 per cent storage threshold.

According to Dr Ofori, international prices had increased by more than 14 per cent for petrol and 7.5 per cent for diesel, contributing to higher pump prices despite the relative stability of the cedi.

His projections, however, differed from those issued by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) on September 13, 2026.

COPEC had projected a 4.24 per cent increase in petrol prices and a 10.23 per cent rise in diesel prices for the same pricing window.

Concerns over further subsidies
Dr Ofori also questioned whether the government could sustain additional interventions to cushion consumers from rising fuel prices.

He said previous subsidy measures had resulted in costs being absorbed by players in the downstream petroleum sector, warning that the financial burden of any new relief would eventually have to be borne by citizens.

He cited the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) recovery levy, introduced following earlier subsidy interventions in the downstream petroleum sector, as an example of how such costs could eventually be recovered.

Rather than relying on short-term interventions, Dr Ofori called for the development of a long-term national energy strategy that would extend beyond individual electoral cycles.

He said the strategy should include increased investment in alternative modes of transportation and exploration of blended fuels, including ethanol.

TOR, Sentuo unlikely to immediately cut prices

Dr Ofori also dismissed expectations that the return of the Tema Oil Refinery and Sentuo Oil Refinery to significant operations would automatically lead to lower fuel prices in the immediate term.

He explained that both refineries purchased crude at internationally determined benchmark prices and could not simply obtain discounted crude from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) for Ghana's crude parcels because of international trading rules governing commodity transactions.

He added that when shipments were already at sea and international prices changed, suppliers could require fresh letters of credit to cover the difference before the products were discharged.

Windfall revenue proposal
Dr Ofori further addressed a proposal that the government could use increased revenue from higher crude oil prices to cushion consumers from rising fuel costs.

The proposal was attributed during the programme to the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies.

Dr Ofori said he was unable to confirm whether such a windfall currently existed, explaining that GNPC's crude liftings were scheduled at different intervals throughout the year.

He said the corporation might not have lifted crude during the period of the current price increase and suggested that the GNPC Chief Executive Officer and the Finance Minister would be better positioned to provide clarification.

GPRTU justified in seeking fare increase

On transport fares, Dr Ofori said the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) would have grounds to seek an increase in fares following the latest rise in fuel costs.

He nevertheless urged commercial drivers to deal fairly with passengers and cautioned against practices such as dropping passengers and immediately loading new passengers along the same route in an attempt to collect fares twice.

Fuel prices could rise further
Asked whether fuel prices were likely to continue increasing, Dr Ofori warned that Ghana could face challenges in meeting normal demand if global supply constraints persisted into the northern hemisphere winter.

He said global petroleum product inventories had declined by between 500 million and one billion barrels over the preceding two months.

The next fuel pricing window is scheduled to open on Thursday, October 1, 2026.