The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) has set up a small team to engage Star Oil following the company’s decision to suspend its membership.

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

“And immediately we put a team together to try and engage Star Oil,” he 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 rejected claims that the Chamber’s emergency meeting was triggered by Star Oil’s exit.

“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.

He said the meeting had been scheduled days earlier. “Star pulled out on Wednesday, and we had planned this emergency meeting since Monday,” he said.

According to him, the timing changed only because COMAC wanted full attendance.

“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 said Wednesday was also not workable. “So we pushed it to Thursday morning,” he said.

Mr Kumi said the meeting was planned because competition in the sector had become unhealthy.

“We saw that the competition was getting a bit nasty, so we wanted to meet the two of them,” he said.

He noted that both Star Oil and GOIL sit on the COMAC board.

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

Mr Kumi described Thursday’s engagement as difficult.

He said the Chamber maintained its policy position. “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 said outreach to Star Oil began immediately after.

Star Oil announced an indefinite suspension of its COMAC membership earlier this week, citing concerns over how the Chamber has handled the debate on the petroleum price floor.

The policy has divided oil marketing companies and heightened tensions in the downstream petroleum sector.