The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC), Dr Riverson Oppong, has proposed the introduction of a West African Fuel Passport, an ECOWAS-wide digital system to improve petroleum product traceability and quality assurance across the region.
The proposal was presented at the OTL Africa Downstream Energy Week 2026 during a plenary discussion themed “West African Fuels Congress: What’s New and What’s Next?”, which examined developments in the regional fuel market and reforms needed to strengthen supply security and cross-border trade.
The proposed Fuel Passport would establish a common digital certification system to verify petroleum products against agreed regional quality standards and track consignments from refineries or ports through storage depots and border crossings to retail outlets.
COMAC described the proposal as an “ECOWAS-wide digital system” that would certify petroleum products to an agreed quality standard and track each cargo or truckload throughout the supply chain.
The system is expected to help reduce “unrecorded product movements, improve quality assurance, strengthen revenue protection and make legitimate cross-border petroleum trade easier across the region”.
The proposal comes as expanding refining capacity across West Africa, changing petroleum supply routes and differences in national fuel quality standards create new challenges for monitoring product movements and regulating cross-border trade.
Drawing on global, regional and Ghanaian market data, Dr Oppong also highlighted how the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis exposed the vulnerability of import-dependent fuel markets. The disruption reduced shipping traffic through the strategic waterway, lengthened shipping routes and pushed international crude oil prices higher.
He further examined Ghana’s continued dependence on imported petroleum products, regional refining developments, variations in pump prices and the need for stronger storage and product-traceability systems.
The engagement provided an opportunity for COMAC to bring Ghana’s downstream industry experience into the regional conversation and advance practical proposals for a “safer, more transparent and better-connected West African petroleum market.”
