BUSINESS NEWS: Fuel prices increase by 1.5 percent in April.

The prices of petroleum products at the pumps have gone up by about 2 percent for the first pricing window this month (April).

For the first two weeks of this month, consumers should be prepared to pay more for fuel they purchase at the various retail outlets for the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

The first pricing window spans from the 3rd to the 15th of this month, April.

Per analyses conducted by the Institute of Energy Security (IES) for instance, the increases are as a result of the rise in the price of gasoline and gasoil for the period.

While gasoline has increased by some 3.7 percent to 646 dollars per metric tonne, gasoil has gone up by about 3 percent to 572 dollars per metric tonne.

Checks by Citi Business News at some major oil marketing companies like Total and Shell show that the price of a litre of diesel, has gone up by 1.5 percent or 7 pesewas.

This means you will be paying 4 cedis 56 pesewas for a litre of diesel compared to the previous 4 cedis 49 pesewas.

Similarly, the two companies have adjusted the price of a litre of petrol up by 1.3 percent or 6 pesewas.

This translates into a litre price of 4 cedis 57 pesewas from 4 cedis 51 pesewas.

As at the time of filing this report, Goil had not adjusted its prices for the period.

In March however, the prices of petroleum products dropped in the first pricing window but remained stable in the second pricing window.