COPEC warns against Price floors in deregulated fuel market
25th January 2026
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has cautioned that imposing price floors in a deregulated petroleum market, without also setting price ceilings, could undermine competition and distort market dynamics.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, January 24, COPEC’s Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah, argued that such regulatory interventions weaken market efficiency and restrict the ability of oil marketing companies to adjust prices in response to changing conditions.
According to him, a genuinely deregulated market should allow fuel prices to be shaped by competition, operational costs and consumer demand, rather than rigid price controls.
“In a deregulated market, prices are expected to adjust naturally. Introducing a price floor without a corresponding ceiling creates an imbalance,” Amoah said. “It allows some players to charge excessively high prices while others are prevented from offering lower prices to attract consumers.”
He cited past pricing trends among major industry players, noting that price differences of between GH¢0.50 and GH¢1 per litre had been observed, even after accounting for average bulk distribution costs, taxes and margins.
“If a price floor is to be maintained at all, then there must also be a price ceiling to ensure fair competition and protect consumers,” he added.
COPEC has therefore urged the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to abolish the price floors introduced under the 2024 petroleum product pricing guidelines.
The consumer advocacy group maintains that preventing Petroleum Service Providers (PSPs) from selling below a regulator-determined minimum price is outdated and inconsistent with the principles of a deregulated downstream petroleum sector.
In an earlier interview with Citi Business News, Amoah reiterated that the price floor offers no real benefit to consumers and argued that removing it would give oil marketing companies greater flexibility to lower fuel prices when market conditions allow.