Star Oil Ghana Limited announced on 1 October 2026 that it will rejoin the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) after suspending its participation in January of the same year. The decision follows consultations with other oil marketing companies and appeals from fellow COMAC members.
In a letter addressed to COMAC’s chief executive officer, Star Oil CEO Philip Tieku explained that the company’s return is driven by the need for a strong industry body that can represent collective interests and engage effectively with regulators, government and other stakeholders.
At the same time, Star Oil used its renewed membership as a platform to push for changes to COMAC’s governance arrangements. The company highlighted the Chamber’s constitution, which grants permanent board representation to three founding members, as an outdated provision that no longer reflects the current industry composition.
“The downstream petroleum industry has changed considerably over the years. The relative size, market share, investment and contribution of individual OMCs have also evolved significantly,” Tieku said. He argued that permanent board seats should be based on contemporary relevance rather than historical status.
Star Oil also raised concerns that the existing arrangement concentrates influence among a small number of companies, noting that some permanent board members are not consistently represented by their highest decision‑makers at meetings. This, the company said, could weaken decision‑making and limit the Chamber’s ability to respond promptly to important industry issues.
The company is advocating a transparent, democratic and periodically renewable process for board representation that would strengthen participation, accountability and commitment among members.
Star Oil’s return is therefore framed not only as a resumption of membership and board representation, but also as a commitment to working with other members to make COMAC more representative, responsive and effective.
