The Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs), Dr Riverson Oppong Peprah, has predicted that fuel prices could see an increment in the coming days due to the government's newly approved GH¢1 fuel levy.

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Speaking to the media, he bemoaned the government's failure to consult industry players before imposing the levy.

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He noted that the new development will have significant implications for consumers and the downstream sector.

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“My members at the oil marketing companies are seeing their margins steadily shrink, just to keep their operations viable, yet no one is addressing this issue. There are numerous challenges in the downstream sector that I expected the government and other stakeholders to be discussing.

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“Instead, what we are hearing is about a one cedi levy being imposed without proper engagement with stakeholders," he said

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Government is set to implement the Energy Sector Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which introduces a GH¢1.00 petroleum levy, following approval by Parliament on Tuesday, June 3.

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The Majority side of the House approved the bill after the Minority side staged a walkout.

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Energy and Green Transition Minister, John Abdulai Jinapor, has defended government's move despite opposition from some stakeholders in the energy sector.

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He noted that the timing of the introduction of the levy is apt as the cedi continues to appreciate against major trading currencies.

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The minister projects to generate revenue ranging between GH¢5 billion and GH¢6 billion to support the procurement of liquid fuel.

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"Fuel was around GH¢16.00, and a sensitive government will not slap a tax when fuel is GH¢16.00. You couldn't have imposed that tax around that time when fuel was still very high, and so you needed to work to bring fuel down to this level and share the gain with Ghanaians. At that time, if we had increased it, you can imagine the impact on Ghanaians, but today, the net effect is that you are still having a reduction of GH¢3.00 on a litre of fuel," he explained.

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"It is better to do it today than to (have done) it yesterday, when it would have eroded your income; today, your purchasing power has increased because of the reduction of the value of the dollar," he said while speaking on JoyFM.

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Despite the projected revenue government seeks to rake, the Energy Minister noted that the government will still need to push in more finances to address the country's energy sector crisis.

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"This amount, if you look at the object clearly, we talked about the debt that we have and how unsustainable the debt is."

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“So, even with this GH¢1, the Finance Minister will still have to assist us in getting some additional money to buy liquid fuel,” Mr Jinapor said in an interview on Citinews.

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