The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has strongly criticised Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for ” “deliberate exploitation” of consumers by refusing to implement the full scale of expected reductions in fuel prices.
According to COPEC, recent calculations indicated that prices for petrol, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) should have dropped by 4.5%, 3.8%, and 3.9%, respectively, by March 16, 2025, in line with global market trends and pricing benchmarks.
However, despite these expectations, many OMCs have only made marginal reductions—if any at all, leaving fuel prices unjustifiably high at the pumps.
COPEC argues that this failure to pass on the full benefits of lower international prices is not only unfair to consumers but also undermines the principles of the country’s deregulated fuel pricing regime.
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Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, expressed deep concern over the situation, noting that while OMCs are swift to increase prices when global rates rise, they are reluctant to reduce them when the opposite occurs.
“This is a troubling and unacceptable trend that defeats the core objective of fuel price deregulation,” he said.
“When prices go up, OMCs are quick to adjust upwards. But when prices are expected to fall, they drag their feet. The most significant reduction we’ve observed so far is just 2.2%, whereas consumers should have seen reductions ranging between 3% and 7%. This failure to comply with expected pricing adjustments is creating unnecessary financial pressure on already burdened consumers.”
COPEC is therefore calling on regulators and oversight bodies to step in immediately and ensure that OMCs implement the full scale of price reductions as expected.
The Chamber warned that allowing such practices to continue unchecked will erode public trust in the pricing system and impose undue hardship on millions of consumers who are already grappling with the high cost of living.
