Ghana is set to witness another hike in petroleum prices from November 1, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Alex Kofi Mold has revealed.

He said his team of experts had finished their computation and were expected to meet the NPA board for an approval by yesterday afternoon. Mr. Mould explained that the percentage of the increment would be known after the board has deliberated on the computation and given its approval. This will be the third increment since the NDC administration took office early this year against a campaign promise of making petroleum prices affordable.

The acting CEO disclosed that the announcement of the new prices would be made on October 30 for it to take effect from November 1. Mr. Mould who is a brother of Mrs. Betty-Iddrisu, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, made the disclosure in an interview with Fox Fm in Kumasi yesterday Tuesday 27th October 2009. He contended that the increment has become necessary due to the hike in the price of crude oil in the international market.

The acting CEO assured that there was no cause for panic, emphasizing that the government cares about the welfare of the people and would therefore not announce any cut throat prices. Mr. Mould appealed to fuel stations not to take undue advantage of the anticipated hike and hoard their products to create artificial shortage in the system. Denying that there was shortage of petroleum products, especially petrol in the country, he disclosed that the country has at least two weeks stock of fuel.

The acting CEO noted that the shortage of fuel in some parts of the country was as a result of the failure of some fuel stations to pay the debt they owe the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST). He explained that because some of the fuel stations have failed to settle their debts with BOST, the company is unwilling to supply such fuel stations with fuel, hence the shortage. It would be recalled that the reduction in the prices of fuel was a major campaign topic of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2008 elections.

The then candidate, Professor Evans Atta Mills intensely demonized ex-President Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration for selling a gallon of petrol at GH¢5 when the world price of crude oil was hovering around $147 a barrel. He did not only stand on platforms and accuse the government of being insensitive to the masses, he joined several demonstrations staged by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) to denigrate the government.

The tax Professor, in giving false hope to the electorate, promised that when voted into power his government will drastically reduce the fuels prices to better the lives of the people. But after assuming office, the Mills-led government rather increased the price of fuel drastically when the price of crude oil in the international market has dropped to a record low of $56 per barrel.