Nana Amoasi VII
Fuel prices are expected to go up in the coming weeks following escalating tensions in the Middle East Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), Nana Amoasi VII, has warned.
His caution follows renewed conflict between Iran and Israel, developments that continue to shake international oil markets, despite the country enjoying stables fuel prices.
Nana Amoasi VII said that despite external pressures, Ghanaians should not expect an immediate increase in domestic fuel prices.
“I am sure within the next two weeks. Currently, we do not expect to see any price increases on the domestic market, as the prices determined over the last two weeks remain in effect today,” he said during an interview.
He added that there could even be a marginal drop in local fuel prices in the coming days. However, he warned that this may be temporary.
“We are going to experience some stability or some drop in fuel prices from today going forward. However, because prices have started skyrocketing on the global market, means that we must get ready for a possible hike in the next two weeks.
“For how long this will stay and how we can manage, we have little to do to change the narrative out there. So, we can only pray that God will intervene,” he said.
Despite the potential risks, he expressed cautious optimism, noting: “Prices may drop if negotiations between the two parties are enhanced.”
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) has indicated that recent developments in the region are unlikely to affect local pump prices immediately.
COMAC CEO, Dr. Riverson Oppong, explained that the delay is due to the time it takes for global price shifts to reflect in domestic pricing.
“Despite fuel prices going up over the weekend because of the Iranian-Israeli war, you realize that our forecast does not in any way capture those movements. This is the reason why I say that when fuel prices are going up, we do not see the effect immediately on pump prices in this country,” Dr. Oppong said.
He added that the same applies when prices fall.
“It is the same thing when it is going down—we should not expect fuel prices to hit our prices immediately because it takes time for the landing prices to be changed.
“For this week, we are going to have cool prices at the pump level because we are going to sell old stocks or people who have locked in products and paid for it already or may have signed some commercial agreement,” he added.
A Business Desk Report