Star Oil suspended Membership over minority policy position - COMAC Chair

The Chairman of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC), Gabriel Kumi, has said Star Oil’s decision to suspend its membership was not due to being sidelined, but because it held a minority view on a key industry policy.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, Business Edition on Thursday, Mr. Kumi explained that the Chamber followed its established decision-making process on the petroleum price floor, a policy initiated by COMAC in collaboration with the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) about two years ago.

“Star Oil is a very key member of the Chamber,” he said, noting that the company itself acknowledged the principle guiding COMAC’s decisions. “I’m happy in the letter that Star Oil wrote to us, it did admit that it respects the view of the majority.”

He stressed that while minority opinions are recognised, they cannot override collective agreement. “We also respect the view of the minority, but at the end of the day, the majority decision carries the day,” he said.

Mr. Kumi admitted that the fuel price floor policy has faced challenges, which led to internal objections from some members. He said these objections ultimately prompted Star Oil to voluntarily step aside. “Unfortunately, those expressions find their way in them, saying that they want to be suspended from the Chamber,” he explained.

Despite the suspension, Mr. Kumi said COMAC respects Star Oil’s decision but emphasized that the Chamber’s position remains firm. “At the end of the day, the majority decision is that, as it stands, the floor pricing policy is good for the industry. It protects the industry and is the way to go,” he said.

He also rejected claims that larger companies dominate decision-making within COMAC. “At the Chamber level, at the board level, everybody has one vote. No matter how big you are, you still have one vote,” he said.

Mr. Kumi stressed that policies only move forward with broad support. “If it wasn’t the majority decision, we couldn’t push it. There are a lot of decisions that we have discussed, but if we find that it’s not popular, we shelve it,” he said.

He concluded that the fuel price floor continues to command strong support among members. “This one was a popular majority decision, and it’s still the popular decision amongst the Chamber members,” he added.