After 14 days of trading in the first Pricing-window for July 2016, the Institute for Energy Security (IES), says it has sampled 25 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) across the country, and found that the market recorded an average reduction of 1 percent and 0.58 percent on Petrol and Diesel, respectively.
It also found out that eleven(11) OMCs – Shell, Total, Puma Energy,Allied Oil, Agapet Oil, Engen Petroleum, Star Oil, Lucky Oil, Petrosol and Rich Oil; made reductions to the price of Diesel and Petrol with Engen Petroleum, Puma Energy, Unity Oil, Goil, and Top Oil are the five (5) top OMCs in terms of prices. This was contained in a statement signed and sent to The Herald by Gilbert Richmond Rockson, Principal Research Analyst, Petroleum Unit – IES.
World Market Index Platts, the benchmark for Petrol and Diesel prices, went down by $40.52 per metric tonne and $19.95 per metric tonne respectively, representing 7.9 percent and 4.6 percent over the first Pricing window.
The average Platts prices for the first Pricing-window was$513.95 and $436.20 per metric tonne for Petrol and Diesel respectively. For the Pricing-window starting July 16, 2016, Platts is reporting $473.43 per metric tonne and $416 per metric tonne for Petrol and Diesel respectively. Over the first window, North Sea Brent crude averaged $47 per barrel; a $2 decrease from the second-half of June 2016, and the third consecutive fall since reaching a high of $52.51 per barrel in June 2016. Prices are forecast to average $44 per barrel in 2016 and $52 per barrel in 2017.
Local Market Index and Inventory The Cedi recorded some level of stability against the U.S. Dollar in the first Pricing-window of July 2016, and is expected to remain stable over the next window. Surging fuel stock in the country has pushed floating storage (offshore vessels) to seven month high. The combined stock of Petrol and Diesel (in-tank and offshore) as at July 14, 2016 is over 540million liters – capable meeting a little over 7-weeks of national consumption.
Projections for July 2016 Second-Window On the back-drop of a comfortable national fuel stock, the falling fuel prices on the world market,and the relative stability in the local currency; the Institute for Energy Security can project a further drop in prices of fuel on the local market between 2.5 percent on petrol and 1.8 percent on Diesel in the Second Pricing-window for the month of July 2016. At the close of the new Pricing-window, IES expects consumption of Petrol and Diesel combined to increase by 2.9 percent over May 2016 figure of 306 million liters for the month of July 2016.
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