The National Petroleum Authority has published fresh price floors for petroleum products, covering the second half of October, and this time diesel comes in slightly ahead of petrol.
According to the NPA's notice dated October 12, petrol carries a floor of GH¢16.09 per litre, while diesel sits at GH¢17.09. LPG comes in lowest on the list at GH¢13.87 per kilogram. Local MGO is priced at GH¢17.20, and kerosene tops the chart at GH¢17.45 per litre.
These figures apply strictly to the window between October 16 and 31, meaning another review is likely once the period closes.
Compliance Expected From OMCs
The authority says the floors fall under the Petroleum Product Pricing Guidelines, and it's entreating all Oil Marketing Companies and LPG Marketing Companies to stick to them for the stated period.
It's less a suggestion than an expectation, given how pricing discipline in the downstream sector tends to get scrutinised whenever numbers shift.
Worth noting is what these figures leave out. The NPA was explicit that the published floors exclude premiums charged by International Oil Trading Companies and the operating margins set by BIDECs. Marketers' and dealers' margins for OMCs and LPGMCs aren't baked into these numbers either.
Each of those components, the authority says, will be "independently determined by the companies as pertains under the PPPG," which essentially means the final pump price consumers see could land higher than the floor figures once those additional charges are factored in.
For now, the floors offer a baseline rather than the full picture, and how closely OMCs follow them over the next two weeks will say a lot about pricing behaviour heading into the rest of the month.
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