Consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has dropped sharply Y-o-Y in Ghana, as a result of higher prices.
The country’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA) reports a 12% decline in the consumption from 345, 477.075Tonnes in 2021 to 305,076.2Tonnes in 2022.
LPG prices shot up by as much as 100% from 2021 to 2022, reaching as high as $20 (or GH¢250) for the content of the 14.5 kilos cylinder in the latter part of the year.
Most of Ghana’s LPG is imported. In 2021, the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), a state owned hydrocarbon firm, produced only 90,327Tonnes, about 26% of the local consumption, according to data by the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC).
Consumption in Greater Accra alone, at 106,000Tonnes, was higher than the overall in-country production
There have been strident arguments for the reduction of taxes on the product. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Chief Executive Officer of NPA, is on record as having promised to make a case for Cabinet to remove some of the taxes. Ghana imposes a price and stabilisation and recovery levy on petroleum products sold in the country.
