Gov't seeds P1bn towards fuel security
Lewanika Timothy | Monday December 25, 2023 06:00
The facility, to be located along the Trans-Kalahari Highway a few kilometres from Gantsi, is meant to strengthen the security of fuel supply in the western part of the country. BOL officials revealed that while the international threshold for a nation to be regarded as fuel secure is gauged on its ability to withstand supply shocks for up to 90 days, Botswana’s strategic storage capacity currently stands at 18 days.
Local commercial buffer stock, which measures the strength of private storage capacities, stands at less than five days against a desired minimum standard of 14 days.
Giving a brief of the project at a groundbreaking ceremony held over the weekend, BOL CEO, Meshack Tshekedi, said at its completion, the facility is expected to have a lifespan averaging 50 years.
“The project is anticipated to be completed after 12 months with a minimum life expectancy of 50 years once the depot is operational,” he said. “It is targeting the western part of the country, which consumes 10–30% of the total volume of fuel imported into our country.”
Minerals and Energy minister, Lefoko Moagi said that over-reliance on the South African route for the supply of petroleum is a huge risk to the local economy and the time is ripe for Botswana to break away.
“As noted in our National Energy Policy of 2021, Botswana is completely reliant on imports of refined petroleum products from neighbouring countries, mostly from South Africa. “This over-reliance on a single source and a single route poses a high risk to the security of fuel supply, as has been witnessed in the past when there was prolonged fuel supply shortage,” he said.
He added that Botswana Oil is also preparing to implement its exclusive statutory obligation to import 90% of the country’s fuel. From April 1 next year under the 90% 'import quota', BOL will exclusively import nearly all of the 1.2 billion litres of fuel consumed in the country annually and resell this to retailers such as Engen, Total, Puma, Caltex and other wholesalers.