The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has pushed back against calls to scrap the fuel price floor, insisting the policy remains critical to the stability of the downstream petroleum sector.
The regulator maintains that the price floor is necessary to prevent price undercutting among oil marketing companies and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry, following renewed concerns raised by some industry players.
Director of Economic Regulation and Planning at the NPA, Abass Tasunti, in a Citi Business News interview, challenged claims by Star Oil that it could have reduced fuel prices further if not for the price floor, arguing that the oil marketing company has over recent pricing windows priced above the price floor.
“Let’s take from the first window of December 2025, comparing that to the price floor. Star Oil has always priced above the price floor and even when they have decided to discount for some of their stations, the discounted price is also higher than the price floor.
“This should tell you something that even for Star Oil who is making this claim, they are not selling even at the level of the price floor to warrant this argument that had it not been for the price floor, they would have sold lower. Let me give you specific numbers. If you take the first window, the price floor for petrol was GH¢10.98 per litre, Star Oil’s price was GH¢11.97. I don’t have information about their discounted price for that window was but second window of December, the price floor reduced to GH¢10.67. Star Oil reduced its price to GH¢11.35, still above the price floor, but they decided to sell at discounted price for some of their stations, and the discounted price was GH¢10.97. This discounted price was still higher than the GH¢10.67 price floor,” he said.
The price floors policy is set out in the 2024 petroleum products pricing guidelines. Under the current guidelines, the NPA sets and communicates price floors for deregulated products at the start of each pricing window.
PSPs are required to comply and may not sell below these floors. Those found in violation risk fines of up to GHS5,000.
Industry players had raised objections when the price floor was first introduced, arguing that it stifled competition and limited potential savings for consumers.
