The Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) has suspended its membership from the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs) with immediate effect following accusations that its recent reduction in fuel prices was due to government influence.
Government had urged Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to reduce prices of petroleum products to cushion the motoring public, following a sit-down strike by some Driver Unions.
GOIL complied with the appeal and reduced its prices by 15 pesewas per liter at the pumps. But the AOMCs, wrote to the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, asking the government to stay clear of price deregulation as is being implemented by the OMCs.
This appears not to have gone down well with GOIL as captured in a statement dated December 8, 2021.
In the statement signed by the Managing Director, Kwame Osei-Prempeh, Goil said categorically that at no point did the government ‘direct’ the company to reduce its fuel prices as is being alleged and circulated.
It said GOIL is a listed company with a constituted Board of Directors and Management and takes decisions based on prudent commercial principles.
The statement stressed that the recent reduction in prices was as a result of consideration of the welfare of the ordinary Ghanaian. It said the motive was “to cushion Ghanaians in this difficult post-Covid period”.
It has therefore challenged Association of Oil Marketing Companies, AOMC to provide proof of its allegations.