The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has set the “floor” for pricing petroleum products in Ghana, which would ban any industry player, including the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketing (LPGMC) firms, from selling below that value or benchmark.
This is part of the National Petroleum Authority’s Amended Pricing Guidelines, which came into effect on April 1, 2024.
According to the Amendment to the Pricing Guidelines, the National Petroleum Authority “shall set and communicate price floors for the deregulated products for each pricing window, which is the 1st to 15th and 16th to 30th of each month.”
The action is part of measures to deal with concerns from industry players over substantial price undercutting in the sector by some oil marketing companies in the nation.
Background
The National Petroleum Authority formed a committee to evaluate the Pricing De-Regulation Policy, which was adopted in June 2015, in response to industry players’ objections that a review was required to better serve the sector.
Based on the committee’s recommendations and industry feedback, the National Petroleum Authority issued these guidelines, which were captured in a letter dated March 27, 2024 and forwarded to Oil Marketing Companies, Bulk Oil Distribution Companies, and other industry players.
The amendment to the Pricing Guidelines for Petroleum Products now requires Oil Marketing Companies to send the actual prices that they will display at their service stations to the National Petroleum Authority, as opposed to the previous regime, which allowed them to send only indicative prices to the regulator.
Sanctions For Violating Amended Pricing Guidelines
The National Petroleum Authority has declared that Oil Marketing Companies may face fines ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 Ghana Cedis thousand for breaking the new price guideline that went into effect on April 1, 2024. The Authority stated that it will not hesitate to fine these corporations if they fail to comply.
Source: Energy Ghana