GOIL Ghana Limited turned 50 last Monday, having been incorporated as a private limited liability company, AGIP Ghana Company Limited, on June 14 1960 with the objective of marketing petroleum and related products, particularly fuels, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), lubricants, bitumen and other specialty products in Ghana.

Even though the golden jubilee date passed without ceremony, The Business Analyst gathered from sources close to management that the company is presently focused on a strategy soon to be rolled out that would give its competitors a run for their money.

The company is currently busily preparing for its annual general meeting, scheduled for Thursday June 24, 2010 at the Auditorium of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, near the Liberation Circle at Ridge in Accra. Shareholders at the time of incorporation of GOIL were AGIP SPA of Italy and SNAM S.P.A. On the 16th of December 1968, SNAM S.P.A. transferred its 10% shareholding, representing 95,000 shares, to Hydrocarbons International Holdings of Zurich, Switzerland.

In 1974, the government of Ghana acquired the shares of AGIP SPA and Hydrocarbons International Holdings in AGIP Ghana Company Limited and by a special resolution in 1976 changed the name of the Company to Ghana Oil Company Limited.

By a shareholders resolution passed on August 1, 2007 the company adopted new regulations and was converted into a public company.

Apart from government’s 51% shareholding in GOIL, the major institutional shareholder is the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). Goil’s main business is marketing and distribution of petroleum products in Ghana, deriving the largest chunk of its sales from diesel and gasoline. The company is manned by a nine-member management team headed by a Managing Director.

The marketing arm of the company is represented by four zonal offices namely the Zonal Office South, Middle Belt (Kumasi), West (Takoradi) and North (Tamale), which offices also serve as distribution points for the company’s products. However, the main distribution points are Liaison Office, Central Depot and the Accra Plains Depot, all within the Tema catchment area.

GOIL has a large retail network, comprising 85 filling stations, 61 service stations and 138 consumer outlets spread across the country. Of the filling and service stations, 81 are company owned while 65 are joint venture stations. The consumer outlets include companies, schools, hospitals, factories, hotels, banks and major parastatals.

Additionally, there are a number of other retail outlets established to market premix fuel and kerosene to rural areas. LPG filling plants have also been installed at some of the filling and service stations and at other locations in the country.

The company’s geographical spread places it first in terms of the distribution of petroleum products and its network enables their products to reach virtually all parts of the country.

GOIL currently has ENI SPA (AGIP) of Italy as technical partners.

SUCCESSES

GOIL remains one of the forerunners in the state-owned enterprises sector and the petroleum industry in general. Since the Ghana Club 100 was introduced, GOIL has always been placed in the top fifteen (15).

The company has received both local and international recognition for its service delivery.

At a time that marketing of petroleum products has become ultra-competitive within the Ghanaian environment, with not fewer than 52 registered oil marketing companies actively competing in the market, GOIL has held its own. As of December 2005, six companies – Shell, Oando, Mobil, GOIL, Total and Engen – were the leading marketers holding about 70% of the oil market in Ghana with the rest shared among 46 smaller OMCs. GOIL’s market share among the six traditional OMCs is currently (in the year 2009) 18.1%.

The company has maintained its market leadership in gasoline, premix, LPG, bunkering and lubricants since the year 2002 and has respectable positions in all other products it markets. The company is also penetrating the bitumen market and has recently (2009) entered the aviation market.

AWARDS

GOIL has won several awards over the years, including Petroleum Company of the Year 2008, 2007, 2005 and 2001.

The citation for the CIMG Petroleum Company of the Year 2005 award to GOIL read: ‘Based on a simple message of value for money for your customers, you have put in place mechanisms that will ensure that needs are satisfied. Through periodic training for pump attendants and dealers, backed by your Service Engineers who exercise close supervision on product quality, you have attained a market share of close to 25.3%.

Your activities in Lubricants and LP gas distrubution is well noted, while your role in Premix fuel distribution and Diesel bunkering is commendable. Your efforts in linking your branches in real time to headoffice at almost 40% connectivity in 2005 is worthy of commendation.

The CIMG recognizes these landmarks in our operations for the year 2005 and duly confer on GOIL, Petroleum Company of the Year 2005.’

GOIL has maintained respectable positions in the Ghana Club 100 rankings, taking the 10th position in both 1999 and 2008, and 14th position in 2000.

Mr. Yaw Agyemang-Duah is the Managing Director of Goil, with Prof. William Afiakwa Asomaning as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Other member of the Board are Hon. Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, Nana Esuman Kwesi Yankah, Ms. Faustina Nelson, Mr. Chris Kingsley Arcmann Ackummey and Mr. Eugene Akoto-Bamfo. The Board Secretary is Mr. S. Y. Gyaben.

- The Business Analyst -businessanalystgh@yahoo.com