The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) has constituted a small engagement team to hold discussions with Star Oil following the company’s decision to suspend its membership of the Chamber.

Chairman of COMAC, Gabriel Kumi, disclosed this during an interview on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday.

“And immediately, we put a team together to try and engage Star Oil,” Mr Kumi said. “Not a committee, but just a few of us who have been tasked to engage Star Oil and get him back to the Chamber.”

Mr Kumi dismissed claims that an emergency meeting held by the Chamber was prompted by Star Oil’s withdrawal, stressing that the meeting had been scheduled days before the company’s decision.

“Let me correct this. The emergency meeting we had on Thursday was not a result of the fact that Star Oil has been suspended,” he said. “Star pulled out on Wednesday, and we had planned this emergency meeting since Monday.”

He explained that the meeting was rescheduled to ensure full attendance by members.

“We wanted this meeting to have a full house,” he said. “Some of our members were suggesting Monday or Tuesday, but some of us had travelled.”

He added that Wednesday was also not feasible, leading to the decision to hold the meeting on Thursday morning.

According to Mr Kumi, the purpose of the meeting was to address growing concerns about unhealthy competition within the downstream petroleum sector.

“We saw that the competition was getting a bit nasty, so we wanted to meet the two of them,” he said, noting that both Star Oil and GOIL are represented on the COMAC board.

He said tensions later escalated beyond business rivalry. “The personal attacks got a little bit intensified, and Star reacted by suspending itself,” he explained.

Mr Kumi described Thursday’s engagement as challenging but said the Chamber reaffirmed its policy stance.

“At the end of the day, we resolved that the position of the Chamber, which is to support the price floor, should be maintained,” he said.

He added that efforts to reach out to Star Oil began immediately after the meeting.

Star Oil earlier announced the indefinite suspension of its membership of COMAC, citing concerns about the Chamber’s handling of the ongoing debate over the petroleum price floor policy. The policy has divided oil marketing companies and heightened tensions within Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector.