Fuel Prices Jump Again in Ghana

NPA Ghana CEO in a meeting

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) revised its price floors effective August 1, setting a minimum of GH¢14.53 per litre for petrol and GH¢16.97 per litre for diesel — a 9.4% jump for petrol and a steep 18.3% rise for diesel compared to the previous window. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also rose, up 8.5% to GH¢11.06 per kilogram.

Those NPA figures are price floors, not what you'll actually pay at the pump — Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) add their own margins on top. In practice, that's meant prices well above the floor: Shell has been selling petrol at GH¢16.29 and diesel at GH¢19.49, GOIL at GH¢15.99 and GH¢19.26, and Star Oil around GH¢14.53 for petrol after several adjustments since mid-July. Consumer advocacy group COPEC projected average pump prices closer to GH¢15.95 for petrol and GH¢19.45 for diesel.

Two forces collided at once. Global crude oil (Brent-linked) jumped roughly 23%, from about $71.90 to $88.62 a barrel, driven largely by renewed geopolitical tensions involving the US and Iran. At the same time, the Ghanaian cedi weakened slightly against the US dollar, moving from around GH¢11.50 to GH¢11.66.

Because Ghana fully deregulated its petroleum pricing back in 2015 and no longer runs direct fuel subsidies, these kinds of international shocks reach the pump quickly — there's no buffer absorbing the cost before it hits consumers.

With direct price caps off the table, government's main lever is tax and margin policy and it's used it. On August 3, presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu announced that President John Dramani Mahama had ordered a GH¢2 per litre cut to the diesel regulatory margin for one month, effective August 4, specifically to hold transport fares steady and soften the cost-of-living impact. The National Petroleum Authority was directed to implement it immediately following Cabinet approval. It's the second such intervention this year, after a similar one in April.

The math: that GH¢2 cut claws back roughly three-quarters of the 18.3% diesel floor increase meaningful relief, but not a full reversal. Earlier in 2026, government had also cut fuel taxes and levies more broadly to cushion an earlier crude price spike, though officials acknowledge that approach comes at a direct cost to tax revenue and isn't a long-term fix.

Diesel prices in particular ripple through the entire economy they set the baseline for transport fares (trotro and taxi fares typically follow diesel movements), agricultural production costs, and the price of moving goods around the country. Analysts expect the August increases to add fresh pressure to household budgets and inflation more broadly, even with government's margin cut softening some of the blow.

Expect continued price movement through August as OMCs adjust to the new floors and international crude prices remain volatile. If crude prices ease or the cedi strengthens in the next pricing window, some relief could follow but for now, both petrol and diesel are sitting at some of their highest levels in recent months.