Blame US hurricanes for fuel price hikes – NPA CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Alhassan Tampuli has said the high demand for fuel in the US, particularly in Texas and Florida, following the devastation caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, is to blame for the rising cost of fuel in Ghana and other parts of the world.

He told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Wednesday, 27 September that there has been acute fuel shortage in the US following the hurricane disasters which even compelled some fuel consignments heading for Africa to be diverted to the US, thus affecting the price build-up.

He said apart from the effect of the hurricanes, the international price at which fuel currently sells also has had an impact on the price build-up as well as the cedi-dollar rate.

The prices of fuel products are soaring in Ghana with petroleum hitting GHS20 per gallon.

It has led to some critics calling on the government to dip its hands into the stabilisation fund to cushion Ghanaians but Mr Tampuli told Moro Awudu that it is too premature for such calls to be made.