• Ghana regulator says it will keep minimum retail fuel price floor
• Policy aims to maintain stability in debt-laden downstream sector
• Authority warns scrapping floor could disrupt fuel supply

Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) said on Monday it has no plans to lift a regulatory floor on retail fuel prices, despite calls for it to be scrapped.

“Looking at the current developments on the market, the National Petroleum Authority has no plans to remove this policy,” Abass Tasunti, the NPA’s director of economic regulation and planning, told local broadcaster JoyNews.

His comments follow a public debate involving oil marketing executives and consumer groups, who argue the mechanism prevents stations from passing on the full benefit of recent declines in international refined product prices.

The NPA defended the policy, saying the market conditions that prompted its introduction still hold and warning that removing the floor could lead to uneven pricing among operators.

It also said it wants to maintain stability in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector, which it described as heavily dependent on bank financing through credit lines used by distributors to import fuel.

Minimum Price Mechanism

Introduced in April 2024, the policy sets a minimum retail price for gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The NPA resets the floor every two weeks based on import costs, taxes, port charges and regulatory levies.

In recent review periods, the floor has been set at around 12–13 Ghanaian cedis per litre for gasoline, 13–14 cedis for diesel and above 14 cedis for LPG, according to NPA pricing schedules. Marketers are required to sell above those levels even when procurement costs fall.

The regulator said the mechanism was introduced amid financial stress in the downstream sector, including mounting arrears, increased reliance on bank credit and wide price differences among operators.

The policy remains in place as Ghanaian authorities say the state spent $1.47 billion in 2025 to clear long-standing energy-sector arrears. Tasunti said the NPA would avoid steps that could destabilise the sector and trigger supply disruptions.

Abdel-Latif Boureima