In response to a Cabinet directive of April 9 instructing the Ministers of Finance and Energy to implement a reduction in fuel prices within the current pricing window, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) is urging government to retain the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) margin.
IES warns that its removal will compromise fuel supply security and stall infrastructure development, particularly in the middle and northern belts.
Cabinet agreed to remove or reduce several taxes and margins on petroleum products, including abolition of the Special Petroleum Tax and a temporary restructuring of multiple energy-related charges into a single Energy Sector Shortfall and Debt Repayment Levy at a lower combined rate.
IES describes the margin as “a strategic financing mechanism that supports the development, maintenance and expansion of petroleum storage and distribution infrastructure across the country”.
Its removal under current market conditions risks weakening BOST’s operational capacity and compromising nationwide fuel supply reliability, IES argues.
However, calls for removal of the BOST margin have come from multiple quarters. Executive Director-Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) Benjamin Boakye called for the margin’s suspension on April 1, arguing that BOST operates within a commercial framework and questioning the rationale for imposing additional levies on consumers amid economic hardship.
Still, IES maintains that removal at this time will have adverse implications.
The institute points specifically to the middle and northern belts where infrastructure expansion has not kept pace with rising fuel consumption driven by economic growth, urbanisation and increased transport demand over the past two decades.
Rather than removing the margin, the institute recommends temporarily suspending the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy – allowing cross-pricing flexibility between petrol and diesel and marginally reducing the levy in light of improved fuel sourcing from Tema Oil Refinery.
The domestic energy sector debt liabilities were estimated to exceed US$3billion as of June 2025 according to the finance minister, with parliament having passed the Energy Sector Levy Amendment Act in June 2025 introducing a GH¢1 per litre increase in the levy on petroleum products.
Concerns exist that any reconfiguration of the levy structure carries implications for the country’s fiscal consolidation commitments under its IMF-supported programme.
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