Star Oil ‘Forces’ GOIL To Offer Free ‘Waakye & Koko’
… To Woo Customers As Price War Deepens
The ongoing aggressive price war among Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector has compelled the state-owned Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) to adopt unconventional promotional strategies, including the distribution of free meals to customers at selected stations.
Despite sharp fuel price reductions announced during the second pricing window of January, competition, particularly between GOIL and market leader Star Oil, has taken a dramatic turn, with GOIL resorting to free breakfast and waakye giveaways to attract motorists.
Last Monday, GOIL’s Nima branch surprised customers by serving free breakfast to drivers after slashing petrol prices to GH¢9.99 per litre, just marginally above Star Oil’s GH¢9.97 per litre.
News of the promotion spread rapidly, resulting in heavy vehicular traffic and long queues at the station.
The company has since expanded the initiative. On Tuesday, GOIL announced the extension of its free breakfast campaign to other selected stations in Accra, including 37 and Baatsona, while offering free waakye at its Asamankese station in the Eastern Region.
It remains unclear whether the promotion will be rolled out nationwide or if it is a short-term strategy aimed at countering its main rival’s pricing advantage.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of Star Oil Ghana, Kwame Tieku, has taken a swipe at competitors, questioning the sustainability and credibility of recent low pricing strategies in the market.
In a Facebook post that has generated debate within the downstream petroleum sector, Mr. Tieku recalled Star Oil’s role during the 2022 fuel price hikes, noting that the company used its then 162 stations to cushion consumers at a time when prices were, in his words, “racing upwards unbearably.”
“When in 2022 prices were racing upwards unbearably for Ghanaians, we were the ones who used our 162 stations then to keep prices as low as possible, when the ‘other inefficient one’ who should have known better was busy pricing along with the ‘obroni’ ones,” he wrote.
Questioning why Star Oil’s credibility on low pricing is now being challenged, Mr. Tieku stressed that customer loyalty to the brand remains strong.
“Now they come questioning our credibility in low pricing?” he added.
He further disclosed that Star Oil recorded its highest daily sales on record over the weekend, attributing the performance to growing customer loyalty under the company’s StarSavers initiative.
Industry analysts say the latest price movements underscore intensifying competition among OMCs as they battle for market share amid a deepening price war.
Market watchers attribute the current wave of price cuts to the sustained appreciation of the Ghana cedi against major trading currencies, coupled with declining international petroleum product prices—factors that have created room for OMCs to pass on savings to consumers.
