The Chairman of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) says the petroleum price floor policy was a democratic decision driven by the industry and remains the preferred option of the majority of oil marketing companies.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, Business Edition on Thursday, Gabriel Kumi said the policy was not imposed by a few dominant players but emerged from a broad consensus within the Chamber.

“This floor pricing issue, the idea was pushed forward by the Chamber about two years ago with the National Petroleum Authority, and it was accepted, and we started implementing it,” he said.

His comments come against the backdrop of Star Oil’s decision to suspend its COMAC membership, citing disagreements over how the fuel price floor debate has been handled.

Mr Kumi said Star Oil itself acknowledged the principle of majority rule in its letter to the Chamber.

“I’m happy in the letter that Star wrote to us, it did admit that it respects the view of the majority,” he said.

He stressed that while dissenting views are recognised, final decisions are guided by democratic principles.

“We also respect the view of the minority, but at the end of the day, the majority decision carries the day,” he said.

The COMAC Chairman admitted that the policy has not been without challenges since its introduction.

“Along the line, there have been challenges with the policy, I must say,” he said.

He explained that those challenges triggered internal disagreements and public expressions of concern by some members.

“And I think that is what got our member to express those things,” he said.

According to Mr Kumi, those expressions eventually led to Star Oil’s decision to suspend its membership.

“Unfortunately, those expressions find their way in them, saying that they want to be suspended from the Chamber,” he said.

Despite the exit, he said COMAC respects Star Oil’s decision. “But we respect that decision of Star Oil,” he said.

Mr Kumi, however, maintained that the Chamber's prevailing position remains unchanged.

“At the end of the day, the majority decision is that, at the moment, as it stands, the floor pricing policy is good for the industry,” he said.

He said the policy offers protection to the downstream petroleum sector. “It protects the industry and is the way to go,” he added.

Responding to concerns that the policy may have been driven by larger oil marketing companies, Mr Kumi rejected that claim.

“At the Chamber level, at the board level, everybody has one vote,” he said.

He stressed that size does not translate into influence. “No matter how big you are, you still have one vote,” he said.

According to him, policies without majority backing are dropped. “If it wasn’t the majority decision, we couldn’t push it,” he said.

He said the Chamber has previously abandoned proposals that lacked broad support.

“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 insisted that the floor pricing policy remains widely supported.

“But this one was a popular majority decision, and it’s still the popular decision amongst the Chamber members,” he said.