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The Executive Secretary of COPEC, Mr. Duncan Amoah has appealed to the government to reduce the prices of fuel.

According to him, crude on the world market has become drastically low that some countries are even recording negatives in the pricing of crude.

Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' program, he explained that the prices of crude around the world have generally come down and that other countries around the world are selling fuel at a relatively cheaper price for consumers.

He said importers of crude are even paying off vessels to find other destinations for crude they themselves have imported for refinery because there is no storage place for them.

"So the government should just take advantage of the situation and reduce prices further to give drivers and consumers some respite in this COVID-19 period," he added.

A statement issued by COPEC’s Executive Secretary noted that despite the development, it is unlikely there will be any reduction in Ghana.

“The Ghanaian market is largely Brent benchmark dependent and as such a collapse on WTI is quite unlikely to have any trickle-down effect on local pump prices here,” Duncan Amoah said in the statement on Tuesday, April 21.

Mr Amoah, however, said this is the right time for government to boost the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) in expanding its capacity to store in large quantities.

The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has forecasted that Ghana might lose out on its projected oil revenue generation following the recent drop of crude oil prices on the international market that plummeted around 30 percent.

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Drivers Threaten to Increase Fares 

A group calling itself the National Concerned Drivers Association has threatened to increase transport fares if fuel prices are not reduced at the pump.

They are, therefore, calling on the government to reduce fuel prices at the pump with immediate effect.

According to them, the sharp decline of crude oil in the international market due to the coronavirus pandemic should reflect in the reduction of fuel prices.

In a statement, the Association said if government does not reduce fuel prices by the end of the week, they will in turn be forced to increase transport fares.

Finance Minister's Projected Oil Revenue

Earlier, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in his 2020 Budget statement projected Ghana’s oil revenue at US$8.9 billion from about 13 percent of total revenue and grants.

“Government’s projected revenue was around US$58.66 per barrel and what it means is that if the prices of oil stay around the region of US$30 per barrel till the end of the year, then there’ll be a squeeze in the revenue of the government. The government is expected to get some petroleum receipts of about US$1.2 billion for this year.

“But if prices should stay around the US$30 mark, then the government is less likely to get half of the revenue that is projected. Already, we’ve seen Tullow cut back it’s production. So aside from the international fall in crude oil price that we have to match within selling our own bit of oil that we get as a country, production is also falling in our own shores,” he said.

“Ghana risks losing out on two fronts particularly; one from the fall in projected oil revenue and also the possibility of much lower fuel prices at the pumps across the country. The most important thing is that this is going to impact us negatively,” the Finance Minister added.

“The prices will still remain the same so and I’m not sure that we will see a fuel price reduction at the pumps anytime soon and in the worst-case scenario, it’s going to stay the same or we’d see a marginal reduction but not a substantial one to match with the international fall in the price of crude and fuel prices."