The Ministry of Energy and Green Transition says the new fuel levy under the Energy Sector Levies (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 1141) will only take effect when market conditions are deemed favourable.

This follows President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to the the Ministers of Energy and Finance to continue monitoring global developments before announcing a new date.

Richmond Rockson, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Energy confirmed this, noting that the government is keen to preserve the recent gains in domestic pump prices and avoid introducing the levy at a time when consumers are already facing pressure.

“The President has directed the Ministers of Energy and Finance to keep monitoring the situation. So they will keep monitoring, and as and when the factors look favourable, definitely a new date will be announced.”

He noted levy’s implementation—originally scheduled for June 16th has been postponed due to external factors, particularly rising global oil prices.

“I can confirm that the government of Ghana, as issued by the GRA, has postponed the implementation of the Energy Sector Levies (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 1141). This levy is what has introduced GHS1 on petrol, GHS1 on diesel and 20 pesewas on gas. So yes, I can give you that confirmation,” he said.

Rockson explained that from February 2025 until now, Ghana benefited from a “windfall” in the fuel market due to prudent exchange rate management, which brought fuel prices down from around GHS17 to GHS11–GHS12 per litre.

However, in recent days, international oil prices have spiked sharply—climbing from $60 to $74 a barrel in 72 hours—due to escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.

“In fact, the last three days, if you check crude oil prices on the international market, it moved from $60 to $74, and this is the highest we’ve seen in the past five months,” he noted. “This has also caused some disruptions in our private module.”