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The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has forecasted a 4% hike in petroleum product prices effective Tuesday, July 16, 2024, due to the depreciation of the cedi against the dollar, moving from $1:GHS15.2779 to $1:GHS15.462 (-1.205%).
Duncan Amoah, COPEC’s Executive Secretary, outlined the expected price changes: Petrol to GHS14.795/L, Diesel to GHS15.332/L, and LPG to GHS16.205/kg, with a 14.5 kg cylinder reaching GHS234.97.
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COPEC urges the government to reduce taxes or subsidize LPG to boost accessibility and protect the environment. The anticipated increases are based on international price changes, with Petrol rising from $816.61/MT to $843.00/MT (3.23%) leading to a 3.75% increase in retail price to GHS14.795/L.
Diesel rising from $788.32/MT to $792.32/MT (1.80%) leading to a 4.69% increase to GHS15.332/L; and LPG rising from $477.80/MT to $536.11/MT (12.20%), leading to a retail price of GHS16.205/kg
. The mean price of petrol and diesel is projected to be GHS15.064/L, a 4.23% increase from the current mean price of GHS14.45/L. COPEC emphasizes the need for the government to reduce taxes or adopt a formula to vary total levies with changes in the dollar: cedi rate, and to bring the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) back on stream to reduce dependency on imported finished products and associated fuel contamination.
