Discussions about rising global crude oil prices are once again dominating energy market conversations, raising concerns about higher petrol prices and increased transport costs across Ghana.
Yet the relationship between oil prices and petrol consumption may not be as straightforward as many assume. Conventional economic theory suggests that when fuel prices rise, consumers should reduce consumption. However, recent research analyzing Ghana’s petrol market reveals a more complex pattern of behavior.
The study finds that crude oil prices exhibit a positive relationship with petrol consumption, indicating that higher prices do not necessarily suppress demand as standard models predict.
This pattern reflects several structural characteristics of Ghana’s economy.
First, alleged BDC’s stockpiling increases the potential for increased purchases(demand) vis a vis consumption as consumers often engage in anticipatory or hoarding behavior when price increases are expected.
Second, global crude oil price increases do not necessarily reduce petrol consumption in Ghana in the short run. Petrol is an essential input for transport, logistics, and small business operations, meaning substitution possibilities are limited. As a result, consumption may remain stable or even increase due to inventory adjustments and expectations of further price hikes
These findings also carry an important methodological implication that Traditional symmetric demand models, which assume that price increases and decreases produce equal but opposite responses in consumption, appear to misrepresent the dynamics of Ghana’s petrol market.
When asymmetric price behavior such as the Rock-and-Feathers effect interacts with structural demand constraints, consumption responses become more complex than standard theory predicts.
Using monthly national data from 2016 to 2024 and applying a nonlinear econometric approach, the study examined how crude oil prices, exchange rates, inflation, and domestic fuel taxes affect petrol consumption.
The findings show that petrol consumption in Ghana responds asymmetrically to price changes. In practical terms, this means that price increases and price decreases do not affect consumption in the same way.