Government says it cannot immediately reduce the prices of petroleum products in the country despite a drop in the price of crude oil on the world market.

Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, who made this known, last Friday in Accra, said the fall in the price of crude oil on the world market was still in a transitional trend.

In view of this, he said government will not make any decision with regard to the reduction of the price of oil until it had studied the trend fully.

Speaking at the launch of the Petroleum Commission and National Insurance Commission’s Protocol on the placement of upstream insurance in the country, he said, “The reduction in the price of oil and the appreciation of the cedi are transitional trends, which we cannot just rely on to make decisions.” Crude oil prices on the world market have declined from an average of $109 per barrel in January, this year to $81.14.

Touching on the need to promote the participation of Ghanaians in the energy sector, he disclosed that the ministry was working out ways to ensure that many Ghanaian companies make significant entry into the power subsector.

According to the Minister, there was the need for Ghanaian insurance companies to become competitive “and challenge themselves to maximize in-country premium retention.”

He stressed the need to promote made-in-Ghana goods and services in the country’s petroleum sector to reduce capital flight.

The Minister reiterated government’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for businesses, stressing that, “but local service providers must take their chances.”

An official of Ghana Oil and Gas Service Insurance Pool (GOGIP) revealed that the country was losing huge sums of monies due to capital flight in the petroleum sector.

According to him, GOGIP generated about $61 million through premium covers from 2009 to 2013.

Sadly out of this colossal amount, only $ 1million came to GOGIP with the rest going to foreign insurance companies in the form of reinsurance, he said.