Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has disclosed that the government has commenced plans to secure cheaper petroleum products for the Ghanaian market.
The Minister made this revelation while speaking to Evans Mensah on PM Express on Monday.
According to him, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ministry of Energy will provide further details about the importation of fuel onto the Ghanaian market in the coming days.
He noted that the Energy Ministry had already begun talks with some major sources and sovereigns in the supply of petroleum products.
“In President Kufuor’s time, we did it with Nigeria, Sahara lifting for us and you could have supply credit lines and a fixed price that you could bank on and it is a very similar arrangement that has already commenced and I am expecting that in the coming weeks the NPA, the Energy Ministry will have the opportunity to provide the details,” he said on PM Express, Monday.
“I am saying that the work has already started, I will want them to come and put out those details…I am not going to preempt what the people responsible for the sector are going to do. We are scheduling for all of them to come and provide their detailed presentations and during those presentations, all of the questions can be put to them,” he told Evans Mensah.
The Minister’s statement comes a day after President Akufo-Addo announced that the government is working to secure reliable and regular sources of affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market.
The deal, if successful is expected to put some stability to the escalation of the fuel prices in the country.
Currently, petrol and diesel prices are being sold at an average of ¢18 and ¢23 per litre, from the previous prices of ¢15 and ¢19 per litre respectively.
Some leading OMCs have already adjusted petroleum product prices at their pumps.
Petroleum consumers have lamented the high prices of petroleum products on the market as it has affected businesses and plummeted the cost of living in the country.
