The Institute of Energy Security (IES) has said the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Ltd (BOST) is partly responsible for the fuel price surges in the country.
The Research and Policy analyst, Xatse Derrick Emmanuel said BOST currently cannot store fuel that will support the economy during the international market price crisis.
This according to him would have alleviated the burden on the local market and consumers, however, that is not the case.
Mr Xatse said BOST should have been able to store petroleum products for three to six months.
But at the moment, BOST is not even able to store up to three months although they receive margins for expansion and maintenance works.
“BOST has a lot of tank farms and that is what they should have used to store the fuel so they can release them at such times. But BOST is now renting them out at a fee. With the continuous BOST margin, they should have expanded for us to have a stable price and so we don’t always react to international price adjustment,” he stated.
Mr Xatse’s revelation follows IES prediction that petrol price will go up by 2.0% from July 1, 2024, for the next two weeks.
At the same time, the price of diesel will surge by 4.0%, whilst that of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) will shoot up by 5%.
The expected increase in fuel prices is due to the depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar and the increase in the prices of finished petroleum products on the international market.
SOURCE: Gertrude Otchere