The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has disclosed that contrary to the notion that the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) market is dominated by foreign entities, Ghanaian companies have the largest share in the OMCs market.

Speaking in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, Chief Executive Officer of the NPA stated: “The biggest OMCs in Ghana are Goil, Vivo and Total. These are the ones that have foreign equity participation with Ghanaians holding shares in them.

Just about four companies have foreign involvement which are Vivo, Total, Engen and Puma. Almost all the rest are Ghanaian owned which are over 140 companies”.

Section 12 of the NPA’s act states that a person shall be granted a licence for business in the downstream industry if the person is “(a)a citizen of Ghana, or (b) a body corporate registered under the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179); or (c) a partnership registered under the Incorporated Private Partnerships Act, 1962 (Act 152); or (d) a foreign individual or foreign company in a registered joint venture relationship with a citizen of Ghana or a Ghanaian company”.

Oxfordbusinessgroup.com reports that local reports indicated that in Ghana, “by 2013, wholly-owned indigenous companies were responsible for 70% of petroleum products – which mainly include diesel, petrol, kerosene and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) – marketed and distributed. This is a significant increase from 2001 when six of the 14 OMCs operating in the country were multinationals that accounted for 72% market share”.