Ghana seeks fuel contract price stability

Ghana is looking to buy crude in Q3 this year to protect its consumers from potentially higher oil prices, international media reported Monday.

The country will sell the crude when oil prices rise again and counterbalance its need to import products.

“Any time crude oil prices rise, the impact is felt six times more on the importation side than on the exportation side,” Deputy Finance Minister Charles Adu Boahen told Bloomberg. “After we hedge if crude prices go past the strike price you wouldn’t feel the effect at the pumps because it would have been capped.”

Ghana has been producing oil since 2010, but its refinery doesn’t meet the country’s refined product needs. Actual output capacity is around 20,000 bopd, while national oil demand stands at 65,000 bpd. The government is planning to build a new refinery as part of a USD 50-billion petroleum infrastructure project aimed to make the country an energy hub.