Business News of Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Source: classfmonline.com
Fuel prices to fall in second half of August – IES
IES is projecting a reduction of fuel prices which have steadily risen this year
The Institute for Energy Security (IES) is projecting that the price of fuel on the domestic market at the pump will dip in the second pricing window of August 2021.
According to the IES, the downward adjustment may, however, be offset by the adjustments from the largest local market shareholders Goil, Total and Shell.
Also, the IES noted that the various changes in the price of commodities on the international market are expected to affect local market prices in Ghana.
For this window, it observed the 1.49 percent reduction in the price of the international benchmark Brent crude, the 2.17 percent decrease in the price of gasoline, the 1.77 percent decrease in gasoil price and the marginal depreciation of 0.17 percent of the local currency against the US dollar.
"Monitored on a 15-day rolling basis, the price of fuel on the local Ghanaian market remained stable within the window under assessment," IES said.
The price of petroleum products within the first pricing window of August 2021 saw the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) continue to maintain prices at the pump from the first pricing window of July.
The current national average price of fuel per litre at the pump remains pegged at GHS5.97 for both gasoline and gasoil on account of the relative price stability.
This pricing window also saw Zen Petroleum, Benab Oil, Cash Oil, Goodness Oil, Top Oil and Frimps Oil recorded as the OMCs that sold the least-priced fuel on the local market, according to the IES market scan.
On the world market, the international benchmark for Ghana, Brent crude saw its price on average terms selling at about $72.10 per barrel-mark representing a 1.49 percent decrease from the previous window's average price of $73.19 per barrel mark.
Data analysed by IES’ Economic Desk from the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market showed that the cedi marginally depreciated against the U.S. dollar by 0.17 percent to close trading in the window at GH¢5.867 to the US Dollar from the previous window’s GH¢5.86 to the US dollar.
