Ghana must build strategic fuel reserve to curb future price shocks – COPEC

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has renewed its call for Ghana to establish a strategic national fuel reserve, arguing that the country cannot continue relying solely on the international market whenever global oil prices surge.

Speaking on TV3, COPEC Executive Secretary Duncan Amoah said Ghana remains exposed to external shocks because it has failed to build strategic petroleum reserves despite having extensive fuel storage infrastructure.

He revealed that the Chamber has repeatedly urged successive governments to implement a national fuel reserve programme that would help stabilise domestic fuel prices during periods of global market volatility.

“We have requested time without number that a strategic reserve program be embarked upon.”

Amoah questioned why Ghana has numerous fuel storage facilities but no state-owned strategic fuel stock that can be deployed during emergencies or periods of sharp price increases.

“You cannot continue to have all the big tanks you know dotted across the Tema enclave… and then again you have private tanks and then you cannot talk of one litre of strategic oil that the government can claim to own.”

He argued that the country should take advantage of periods when international petroleum prices are low to purchase and store fuel for future use.

According to him, such a strategy would reduce Ghana’s dependence on expensive imports during times of geopolitical uncertainty and protect consumers from sudden hikes at the pumps.

“If you get them for five hundred six hundred dollars a metric ton… it will be safer to roll out the one you bought for five hundred six hundred when prices were cooler than to continuously go on the open market… to import at a thousand, two thousand, three…”

The COPEC Executive Secretary warned that unless the country adopts long-term measures to manage fuel supply and pricing, consumers will continue to bear the full impact of global market disruptions.

“If we do not begin to plan, Roland, I don’t see how we’ll be out of these doldrums anytime soon.”

His comments come in the wake of the government’s decision to reduce diesel prices by GH¢2 per litre through the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) to cushion consumers from rising international petroleum prices.

While welcoming the intervention, Amoah maintained that building a strategic fuel reserve remains the most sustainable solution to protecting Ghanaians from recurring fuel price shocks.