By Adnan Adams Mohammed
For the past years, the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) has presented a united front, navigating the turbulent waters of Ghana’s deregulated petroleum market. But, last week, a new concrete reality was laid bare.
The “shock exit” of Star Oil, the current market leader and the Chamber’s largest financial contributor, has exposed a deepening rift over a controversial regulatory tool: the petroleum price floor.
“We didn’t see it coming,” admitted Gabriel Kumi, Chairman of COMAC, during an interview on Accra based radio, last week. His tone was one of genuine disbelief.
Star Oil did not just hold a seat at the table; they were the Vice Chair of the Chamber and a pillar of its institutional growth. Its decision to suspend its membership indefinitely was not a move from the periphery; it was a strike from the very heart of the Association’s leadership.
According to Mr. Kumi, while the Chamber was aware of “certain disagreements” regarding pricing policies, they never anticipated a “drastic step” of this magnitude.
The “Nasty” War at the Pump
The timing of the exit coincides with what industry observers are calling a “full-blown price war.” On January 16, fuel prices broke the psychological single-digit barrier for the first time in years. State-owned giant GOIL slashed petrol prices to GH¢9.99, only to be undercut hours later by Star Oil at GH¢9.97.
While motorists are cheering at the pumps, the internal temperature at COMAC has reached a boiling point. Mr. Kumi dismissed rumors that an emergency board meeting held last week was a reactive attempt to bring Star Oil back. Instead, he revealed the meeting was planned days in advance because the competition between the “Tigers and Lions”, referring to GOIL and Star Oil, was getting “nasty.”
“We saw the competition was getting a bit nasty… along the line, I think the personal attacks got a little bit intensified, and Star reacted by suspending itself,” Kumi noted.
The Policy Paradox: Protection or Stagnation?
At the center of this divorce is the National Petroleum Authority’s (NPA) price floor. Introduced to prevent “predatory pricing” and protect smaller OMCs from being swallowed by giants, the policy sets a minimum price below which fuel cannot be sold.
Positions and Arguments
COMAC (Majority)
Protects market stability, prevents “destructive undercutting,” and ensures fuel quality isn’t compromised to save costs.
Star Oil (Dissent)
Distorts market signals, prevents consumers from benefiting from global price drops, and protects “inefficient” players.
Star Oil’s CEO, Philip Tieku, recently claimed that without the floor, petrol could sell as low as GH¢9.50 during off-peak hours to support the night-time economy.
Star Oil argues that as the largest contributor to the Chamber, its dissenting voice has been silenced or misrepresented as “anti-competitive” by COMAC leadership.
Looking Ahead: Can the Rifts Be Mended?
Despite the “tough” nature of last Thursday’s meeting, COMAC has resolved to maintain its support for the price floor, calling on the NPA to enforce it even more strictly. However, they are not ready to let their Vice Chair go just yet.
A small team has been tasked with making “overtures” to Star Oil. “At the end of the day, Star Oil will come back,” Mr. Kumi predicted with cautious optimism. But whether they return or not, the “saga” has sparked a national conversation.
As the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) recently pointed out, the industry may need to move past “protectionist” floors toward data-driven regulation.
For now though, the “price war” continues, and for the Ghanaian consumer, the noise at the top is a small price to pay for relief at the pump.
