Russia-Ukraine tensions: Fuel prices could cross GH¢8 mark in March 2022 – COPEC

Russia-Ukraine tensions rise

Oil prices jumped above US$100 a barrel on Thursday

Ghana cedi continues to depreciate against US dollar

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has cautioned that prices of fuel products at the pumps are likely to cross the GH¢8 mark following recent tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Prices of oil surged on the global market with Brent rising above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 on Thursday, February 24, resulting in the disruptions to global energy supply caused by Russia’s actions.

Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two. This then saw Brent crude rise $7.07, or 7.3%, to $103.91 a barrel at 0944 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude jumped $6.43, or 7%, to $98.53 a barrel.

Reacting to the development, Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, said the impact of the Russia-Ukraine tensions as one that could hit home hard in the first pricing window of March.

“Where you have the third-biggest oil producer and second-biggest producer of natural gas in Russia, currently having an escalation with Ukraine, what you will get is that the supply side is going to be greatly hampered. Once supply side is hampered yet demand continues to grow, prices will only head north,” he is quoted by Citi Business News.

“If bombings continue into the weekend, oil will cross $110 a barrel. If the tensions do not de-escalate in Ukraine-Russia now, I can safely see fuel crossing GH¢8.50 per litre at Ghanaian pumps by March 1, 2022,” the COPEC boss added.

Meanwhile, market analysts have already projected that Ghana’s local currency will likely suffer more depreciation based on the tensions and supply chains disruptions on the global market.

At the present, the Ghana cedi selling at GH¢7 against the US Dollar at some interbank forex market as at Thursday February 24, 2022.