Diesel Now Sells At ₵23 Per Litre

Some Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have started increasing prices of petroleum products at the pumps from this morning, November 1, 2022.

Petrol and diesel prices are going for an average of ¢18 and ¢23 per litre, from the previous prices of ¢15 and ¢19 per litre respectively.

Already, some leading OMCs have adjusted their prices of petroleum products at the pumps.

They attribute the significant increase in the price of fuel to the sharp depreciation of the cedi over the past two weeks.

Presently, the price of crude oil on the world market is relatively stable, selling at $94 per barrel.

But the price of fuel has gone up by more than 100% since the beginning of the year. Petrol and diesel sold at about ¢7.5 per litre at the beginning of 2022.

The Institute for Energy Security (IES) had earlier stated that petrol and diesel prices were expected to go up further to ¢18 and ¢20 per litre by the middle of November 2022.

It also projected a further increase in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas despite a 1.43% fall in the commodity on the world market.

But this latest increase in the prices of petroleum products indicates that the new prices have come too early.

On Sunday, 30 October 20220, President Nana Akufo-Addo said his administration is working on bring affordable petroleum to the country to stem the tide of fuel price hikes at the pumps, which, in turn, impacts the prices of almost every commercial activity.

“I know that the increasing cost of living is the number one concern for all of us. It is driven by fast-escalating fuel prices at the pumps, which is caused by high crude oil prices on the world market and our depreciated currency. I know that this is putting intolerable pressure on families and businesses. I know that people are being driven to make choices they should not have to make, and I know that it has led to the devaluation of capital of traders and painfully accumulated savings”, he told Ghanaians in a national address on Sunday night (30 October 2022).

As part of the mitigation measures, the president announced that “the government is working to secure reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market”.

“It is expected that this arrangement, when successful, coupled with a stable currency will halt the escalation of fuel prices and bring relief to us all”, he noted.