Page 15 - AfrOil Week 26

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

He was alluding to the GNA’s reliance on Tur- His statement came after National Oil Corp.
key and other parties and to charges that Libya’s (NOC) voiced high hopes for the latest round
Central Bank uses oil revenues to pay foreign of peace talks between the GNA and the LNA.
mercenary troops hired to fight the LNA. Those discussions began several weeks ago, with
The tribal leader also stressed that Haftar and the backing of the UN and the US.
his allies were looking to sign a deal that ensured In a statement date June 29, NOC said it was
the fair distribution of crude oil revenues among “hopeful that those regional countries will lift
all regions of the country. “Oil is for all Libyans,” the blockade, allowing NOC to resume its vital
he said. “The Libyan people have the right to work for the benefit of all the Libyan people.” It
benefit from their revenues to improve their added: “NOC is determined that the agreement
living conditions and move forward with the will guarantee transparency and that oil reve-
reconstruction of the country.” nues will achieve social justice for all Libyans.
Al-Senussi was speaking after a tribal meet- The corporation also intends [that] the agree-
ing held at Zueitina, one of the idle ports. His ment will include solutions to protect the oil
tribe played a major role in wresting control of facilities and make sure they are never used as a
those coastal facilities away from the GNA. military target or a political bargaining chip.” ™

Botswana seeks to compensate for

slowdown in South African fuel imports

BOTSWANA MESHACK Tshekedi, the CEO of Botswana Oil have agreed to augment fuel delivery networks,
Ltd (BOL), said last week that his company was he said. Additionally, the company is working to
taking steps to compensate for a slowdown in beef up its storage capacity, he stated.
petroleum product deliveries from South Africa. For example, he said, BOL intends to accel-
Speaking to reporters in Gaborone, Tshekedi erate the planned expansion of the Francistown
stated that Botswana’s government had author- depot. It is also drawing up plans for the estab-
ised the withdrawal of 8mn litres of fuel from lishment of a public-private partnership (PPP)
the national reserves in order to ensure domestic to build a tank farm in Tshele Hills and is looking
supplies. The state has also given BOL permis- into the prospects for setting up another storage
sion to procure petroleum products from other facility in Ghanzi.
countries, including Mozambique and Namibia, He did not reveal the timeline or the cost of
he said. these projects. ™
He explained that the government had taken
these steps because the South African compa-
nies that have traditionally been BOL’s main
suppliers had reduced exports.
These firms are rationing supplies because
their capacity to meet domestic demand has
deteriorated, he said.
According to Tshekedi, the shift to new sup-
pliers in Namibia and Mozambique will raise the
cost of transporting fuel into Botswana. BOL has
therefore asked Gaborone to allocate BWP5-
6mn ($430,000-510,000) to subsidise the costs
of transportation, he said.
Mosetlho Kenamile, the company’s COO,
said at the same press briefing that he did not
expect the slowdown in South African deliveries
to cause shortages in Botswana. The country has
enough fuel in storage to withstand the switch to
other suppliers, he said.
“Botswana currently has a total volume stock
capacity of 55mn litres, which would last up to
30 weeks if the situation was dire,” he was quoted
as saying by the Botswana Daily News.
In the meantime, Kenamile added, BOL is
taking steps to ensure domestic supplies. It will
make use of six selected trucking companies that BOL is expanding the Francistown fuel depot (Photo: Construction Review Online)

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