The Institute of Energy Security (IES) has predicted a further increase in petroleum prices in the country following the attacks on critical oil facilities in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
The Institute revealed that this is likely to cost a shortage of oil on the world market and will trigger an increase in fuel prices.
Speaking on Accra based Citi FM, The Executive Director of the IES, Kwesi Anamoah Sekyi explained that that since southern Arabia is a supplier of crude oil to the United States if US locks out 5% of its global supply it will have an impact on Ghana’s fuel and other refined products.
“You would understand that Saudi Arabia is the supplier of crude to the US…So if we get them locking out 5% of global supply, it also impacts on the production of refined oil in the US. The US will then be forced to go and now rely on their petroleum reserve. If they don’t go to the reserve, it means they won’t have enough to refine and it will cause an impact.”
He added that “We’re now hovering around $67 per barrel and so for sure because Saudi Arabia is a key supplier to the global landscape, producing almost 10 million barrels per day, and one-tenth of the global oil production. So it will impact on prices of diesel, petrol and even other refined products.”
Background
Over the weekend, the location of the biggest oil processing plant run by the Saudi state oil company, Aramco suffered a drone attack.
This attack, executed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, knocked out more than half of Saudi crude output.
This has led to a huge disruption in the production of oil across the globe.
Meanwhile, prices of crude in some oil markets in the world have already experienced a surge following the attack on the plant.
Transport fares up by 10%
This development comes on the back of a 10% increase in transport fares in Ghana following hikes in prices of petroleum products.
The Road Transport Operators announced the increment last Tuesday to cover intra-city transportation and inter-city or long distance travels.
A statement from the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council which announced the increment said the increase is “to accommodate predominantly an increase in fuel prices.”
