To Parly sparks debate 25 filling station sites identified in rural areas
LOBAMBA – The Eswatini National Petroleum Company (ENPC) has identified 25 potential sites for filling stations in Eswatini.
According to the Petroleum Act of 2020, ENPC has the primary mandate of ensuring fuel supply security in the country, through operating in the midstream and down-streams of crude acquisition and transportation, refining, bulk distribution, retailing, final distribution and terminal and wholesale.
In its annual report for the period ended March 31, 2023, the company detailed that in the previous year, it commissioned a study to determine viable sites for the development of retail stations, particularly in rural areas of the country, as a means of fulfilling its mandate of issuing rural area retail licences in key development areas and the company engaged the services of a consultant to carry out the study.
The consultant was appointed in May 2021 and the project has since been completed, as detailed in the report. “The study confirmed that rural areas in the country have poor access to petroleum products and the ENPC has identified 25 potential filling station sites and is currently conducting stakeholder consultations,” reads the report of the company.
Strategy
Also depicted in the report was that in line with its mandate and corporate strategy of ensuring access to petroleum products, particularly in rural areas, the company identified trading in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as one of its business initiatives and established a business plan for this mandate.
“The company has since advertised for the supply of 6 000 LPG cylinders and the evaluations have since been identified. The project is expected to be delivered by November 2022,” reads the report.
The report was tabled in Parliament yesterday by the Acting Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Jabulani ‘Buy Cash’ Mabuza.
On the strength of the established Cooperation Agreements with the three national oil companies in the region, ENPC arranged benchmarking site visits to Botswana Oil Limited, Petromoc S.A in Mozambique and PetroSA in South Africa.
The objective of the visits was to review national activities carried out in depot operations by national oil companies, review the respective national oil companies’ petroleum products in their companies and collectively as entities, share information that may be helpful to each entity to ensure growth in their respective organisations.